Effective Study

EFFECTIVE

STUDY

by

FRANCIS R ROBINSON

Professor of Psychology
Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio

HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS

New York and London

EFFECTIVE STUDY

Copyright, ig^i, 1946, by Harper & Brothers
Printed m the United States oi America
All Tights in this book are reserved
No part oi the book may be reproduced m any
manner whatsoever without written permission
except m the case oi brief quotations embodied
m critical articles and reviews For iniormation
address Harper & Brothers

Effective Study is a revised edition of Diagnostic
and Remedial Techniques for Effective Study,

CONTENTS

Preface vu

I Introduction . i

Part One- Higher-Level Work Skills

II, Survey Q3R Method of Studying. . 13

III Effective Skill in Examinations 43

IV Skills in Attack and Concentration 55

V Preparing Reports 81

VI. Classroom Skills 93

Part Two: Educational Deficiencies Affecfang Schoolwork

VII Reading Ability 105

VIII Writing Skills 129

IX Mathematics 147

Part Three- Problem Areas Indirectly Affecting Effective Study

X Health and Health Habits 151

XI Vocational Orientation 157

XII Social Adjustment 169

XIII Personal Problems 179

XIV. Looking Ahead , . .181

Appendix I ... 183

Appendix II 243

V

PREFACE

Efficient work skills are necessary m col-
lege, as in any occupation, in order that
students may make the most effective use
of tlieir time and be able to understand the
more complex ideas in their lessons While
it IS not possible to make all individuals
into equally good students, a training pro-
gram can be set up to show each student
how to work to his full cai^acity The re-
sponsibility of the college must go beyond
merely providing educational offerings, it
must include showing the student how to
take full advantage of his opportunities
This, in turn, will more than pay for itself
by reducing the number of repeaters and by
providing for more efficient progress m tlie
classroom

How-to-study programs have been set up
in many colleges, one of the oldest and most
successful being the one at Ohio State Uni-
versity. Evaluations of its effectiveness are
summarized on page 2 of Project I As the
result of an extensive lesearch program and
of experience in applying the findings, a
great deal of useful training material has
been developed This book represents a co-
ordination of these diagnostic and training
devices, and should be of use in otlier similar
courses

When this material was first presented in
Diagnostic and Remedial Techniques for
Effective Study (Plarper, 1941) emphasis
was placed on two general areas: (1) the
diagnosis and remediation of skill disabilities
which often cause students to limp along
ineffectually in their work, and (2) the
handling of problem areas which distract

students from their studies These areas ave
treated in Parts Two and Three in the
present book, but Part One introduces a
new and important idea in how-to-study
work— higher-level work skills Heretofore,
goals in how-to-study work have been ob-
tained by determining in what ways good
students differed from poor ones, poor stu-
dents tlien being urged to adopt the ways
of the good students Recent research, how-
ever, indicates that even good students have
bad habits of study and are, on the whole,
relatively inefficient in tlieir study methods
An analogy to the outcomes of an old-time
method of teaching swimming— the “sink
or swim” method— illustrates tins A long
time ago people were taught to swim by
throwing them in the water Each person
gradually developed a dog-paddle swimming
stroke from his desperate thrashing of the
water in an effort to stay up. In those
days such swimming methods were “good
enough” to have fun and even permitted
some to swim better than others But since
then experts have analyzed the problems
of resistance and propulsion and devised
new swimming methods which each year
result in new swimming records Students
have similarly been thrown into assignments
and each has had to figure out as good a
method of studying as he could Bright stu-
dents, however, have easily been able to
keep ahead, even with inefficient methods.
Now the educational psychologist is stepping
in and, on the basis of extensive creative
expenments, is suggesting new methods of
studying on a higher level of efficiency

Viu PREFACE

Such skills permit students to learn more
rapidly, with deeper understanding, and
with no more effort than with their present
trial-and-error methods

Such an emphasis on higher-level learn-
ing skills has caused two changes in the
nature of the how-to-study training program
at Ohio State University and might well be
given consideration in other programs
Whereas how-to-study work once tradi-
tionally emphasized helping or “saving” the
poor student, it now is of value to all stu-
dents since even good students do not have
efficient techniques In fact, tlie students
who take this work represent almost a normal
distribution of ability, and those who make
the most gains and feel the most satisfied
with the program have tended to be the
brighter students A second effect has been
the removal of the stigma which such train-
ing sometimes has with its emphasis on
remediation and probation students Re-
medial work IS still carried on, but it is in-
troduced as needed after the student has
had some successful experiences with the
use of higher-level study skills.

A program to develop effective study
habits in students should also have other
characteristics The characteristics listed be-
low have served as guideposts in the prepara-
tion of this book.

1 A how-to-study program must be in-
dividualized to each student’s needs. Stu-
dents have different programs of courses,
they have different ability patterns and
methods of learning, and they have dif-
ferent problems which need remediation or
which are distracting them Even in the
field of higher-level study skills, the program
must be individualized as a student pro-
gresses in learning a skill, much as coaching
m golf takes individual instruction.

2 Although students are keenly aware
of difficulty m studying their lessons, they
usually do not know their actual level of

skill nor the specific nature of their dif-
ficulties For these reasons it is important
that a student have some means provided
for determining his level of skill and, if
there is a difficulty, some knowledge of its
nature As he makes progress m learning
a skill, he needs evidence of the nature of
hrs improvement and of what is next needed
Self-evaluation tests are included m each
project for these purposes

3. How-to-study work has to go further
tlian helping a student discover what is
wrong or giving him information— through
reading or lecture— on how to study effi-
ciently For, as is true of most skills, the mere
possession of a desire to improve and in-
formation on how to do it will not guarantee
that correct procedures will he used How-to-
study training demands much actual prac-
hce under supervision until the best skill is
obtained and fixed

4 To develop maximum motivation and
to increase transfer of skills to actual study-
ing, this work should be as closely allied
as possible to a student’s lessons in his other
courses That is, artificial exercises may pro-
duce gams on similar tests, but these gams
do not transfer as well to actual studying as
when the how-to-study suggestions are made
in terms of tire student’s methods on other
courses and Ins gains measured there For
this reason much of the student’s practice
and application is done outside this book
This book acts as an introduction, a basis for
diagnosis, a presentation of study techniques,
and a place to record progress, much practice
will have to he carried on with other ma-
tenals, preferably the student’s actual text-
books

5 Finally, this training m study methods
can be of little value unless the student
realizes its importance and believes it worth
while to expend some effort toward im-
provement. The instructor’s cajoling, mak-
ing assignments, and giving grade penalties

PREFACE

have little place in such work Tlie student
must, of his own volition, do the work The
projects are so arranged that he can select
those of interest, the specific diiections make
it possible for him to go ahead on his own
These factors free the instructor so that he
may become a counselor rather than a task-
master The purpose of this book is to pro-
vide a working aid for the student and
counselor which will increase the efficiency
of classroom and counseling sessions.

The arrangement of the projects and the
emphasis on self-direction permit the use
of this book either in a course or in clinical
conferences At Ohio State University several
sections of a class (for college credit) meet
daily for a full quarter in an informal labora-
tory^ Various projects and tests are also
used in the counseling of individuals who
want help without being registered m the
class on Effective Study.

This book IS the product of the wnter’s ex-
perience in how-to-study work over a period
description of this program and also one for
counselor training will be found in the arbcle, Two
quarries with a single stone, J Higher Educ , 1945,
16 20i-ao6

of fifteen years. This program has grown
until about 450 students' a year receive
training in a class on Effective Study and
about 100 more are helped 111 tlie How-to-
Study Clinic In tins work, the writer has
been fortunate in having colleagues who have
willingly and capably experimented with
possible teaching metliods and materials
Tlie diagnostic and training materials in-
cluded here are tlius an outgrowth of many
research adventures m personnel work, many
persons have had tiieir part in shaping the
program Tests that are not original with
tins progiam are used by permission of tlieir
authors and acknowledgment is made m the
proper place Special acknowledgment is due
Miss Louise Edmundson, librarian at Ohio
State University, for assistance in the prepara-
tion of the library tests, and to Dr Ray G
Wood of the State Department of Educa-
tion for permission to reprint several of the
Senior Survey tests The writer is indebted
to Dr Loren S Hadley, Mrs Carolyn B
Robinson, and Mrs Alice Seeman for valu-
able suggestions m the preparation of the
manuscript.

PROJECT I
INTRODUCTION

Almost all students have m their college
life some problem or problems which so
impair their efEciency that they are unable
to make the most of their college experi-
ence When asked to list their problems,
as in the Problem Check List at the end of
this pio)ect, students mention difficulties
with their studies more often than any other
type of problem ^ And an objective analysis
of students’ behavior shows that they do
have many such study problems Further-
more, recent research in educational psy-
chology indicates tliat new, higher-level
methods of learning can be devised which
are more efficient than those now used by
even the best students This book attempts
to help the student who is worried and in-
efficient to make the most of his educational
efforts

Contrary to the opinion of many students,
the way to achieve effective study is not by
more study or more determined concentra-
tion, but by changing the quality of study
method For instance, good students study
no more (usually slightly less) than poor
students, they just use their time more
effectively® Ineffectiveness may be due to
such defects as slow reading rate, poor
grammar, or poor study habits, these cause

Ross Mooney, Problem Check List, Norms,
1940, E G Andrews, Guidance survey of student
problems, Educ and Psych Meas , 1944, 4 209-
215, Ruth Strang, Behavior and Background of
Students in College and Secondary School, Har-
per, 1937, p 21, C G Wrenn and R Bell, Stu-
dent Personnel Problems, Farrar & Rinehart, 1942

“ E. G Williamson, The relationship of number
of hours of study to scholarship, L Educ Psych ,
1935, 26 682-688

a student to limp along in his woik when
he might be able to go further, with an
equal effort, if these deficiencies were
remedied Or a student, even one with
good grades, may be trying to do his work
the hard way, little realizing that there are
better techniques For instance, even good
students seldom make use of headings in
textbooks® Finally, a student may be in-
efficient because some worry or outside in-
terest so distracts him tliat he cannot con-
centrate on his work

The Value of a How-to-Study Program

Colleges are sincerely interested m help-
ing students “make the grade”, in fact, over
a hundred colleges have remedial reading
and how-to-study programs whose function
is not only to rescue potentially successful
students fiom ffiilure but to help the many
otliers work to their full capacity Although
many of tliese programs started out for the
purpose of helping students on probation,
a training in how-to-study can help anyone
since every person is somewhat inefficient
There is evidence, in fact, that the brighter
the student die more he gams from such
training An analysis of the records of several
hundred students who have recendy taken
the how-to-study course at Ohio State Uni-
versity shows an almost normal distribution
of intelligence (median percentile is 47 with
shghdy less than a fourth of the number in
either the bottom or the top quartile) and

®F P Robinson and P, Hall, Studies of higher
levd reading abilihes, / Eduo. Psych, 1941, 32
341-252

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT I

grade point averages have ranged from oo
to 3 93 before taking tire course And the stu-
dents with above average grades have been
among the ones who gained the most

How-to-study programs have met with
notable success Some of the more out-
standing ones have been those at the Uni-
versities of Buffalo, Chicago, Dartmouth,
Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio State, Stan-
ford, and Yale Measures of student progress
have shown increased reading ability, greater
skill in organizing work, better use of edu-
cational facilities, and moie satisfactory per-

^The following sources provide cKcellent reviews
of the many reports that have been published on
how-to study programs in high schools and col-
leges W W Charters, Remedial leading in col-
lege, J. Higher Educ, 1941, 12 117-121, J W
Sherburne, Problems and Outcomes of a College
Remedial Program, PhD dissertation, Ohio State
Univ, 1938, pp 8-36, R Strang, Improvement of
Reading in High School and College, Science Press,
rev ed, 1940, pp 136-177, F Triggs, Remedral
reading programs evidence of their development,
/ Educ. Psych , 1942, 33 678-685

sonal and social adjustment Further concrete
evidence of improvement has been shown
through highei grade point averages

Some actual results over a period of years
in such a course at Ohio State University
may he of interest to the student. Ferguson
found that remedial training for probation
students produced positive results for the
several quarters measured ® Making up a
control group of probation students with
background comparable to that of the trained
group, she found that the grade point
average of both groups before training was
.77 The next quarter’s grade point averages
were 1 79 (trained group) and 1 04 (un-
trained or control group) The spring
quarter grade point averages were 1 77
(trained group) and 1 43 (control group)
Pressey gave how-to-study training to 50
probation students, but not to another

®J M Ferguson, Probation students under guid-
ance, Educ Rev , 1928, 75 224-228

Chart 1 Changes in test percentiles after a how to study course,
compared to tliose of a matched control group measured after the
same period of time (J W Sherburne, unpublished Pb D disserta-
tion, Ohio State Umversity, 1938,}

INTRODUCTION

matched group ^ She found three and a half
years later that 58 per cent of the trained
group had maintained a passing grade average
or had left college with satisfactory grade
records, but only 18 per cent of the control
group did as well Twenty per cent of the
trained group graduated, but none of the
control group did

A more recent experimental evaluation
of the result of this same how-to-study
course, but with all types of students en-
rolled, showed that the students taking this
course improved a great deal in vanous
determiners of scholastic success^ Chart 1
summarizes some of these results For in-
stance, the median student, as a result of this
training, improved 24 percentiles on a test
of English skills, 34 percentiles in reading
rate, 9 percentiles m comprehension ac-
curacy, and 24 percentiles on an outlining
test A control group taking and retaking
these tests over a comparable period of time
showed very slight gams The students in
the how-to-study course received 17 per cent
more A’s and B’s on a term paper in an-
otlier course than a control gioup with
comparable background Fewer of the trained
students withdrew or were dropped from
the university than in the control group,
and the grade point average of the trained
students was 15 grade points higher for
die year than that of the control group
Several aspects of the students’ personal
and social adjustment also showed improve-
ment.

The Approach to Improvement of Study

Skills

It takes more than knowledge to improve
study skills Not only must the student

®L C Pressey, The permanent effects of train-
ing in methods of study on college success. School
and Soc, 1928, 28 40J-404

J W Sherburne, Pioblems and Outcomes of a
College Remedial Program, Ph D dissertation, Ohio
State Univ. 1938, 411 pp

know what effective study skills are like
but he must patiently practice until he has
acquired them He can quickly learn enough
to tell some one else how to study but he
will have to use continued effort in order
to develop effective study skills in himself.
The program obviously has to be individu-
alized to fit each student’s needs Students
progress differently and vary m the errors
they make while learning new skills Meth-
ods which are of value in dealing with
one student’s problems may be of little use
to another student More than other courses,
this program demands a highly individu-
alized laboratory approach And unlike other
courses, it may be said tliat the subject
studied is the student himself
Tlie situation in this class has a definite
analogy to coaching in athletics In teaching
a swimmer the crawl stroke, a coach presents
it as a new metliod and not as a patchwork
modification of the dog paddle And it takes
more flian one explanation or trial since
continuing practice is necessary to develop
polished skiU But practice alone is not
enough because the swimmer does not recog-
nize his eirors, a coach, on the other hand,
can spot difficulties and make definite sug-
gestions, Similarly m study-skill training,
higher-level work skills will be demonstrated
and then, through the aid of tests and ob-
servation of work, further training sugges-
tions will be made The student can gam
little without such diagnostic aid
Another aspect of study skills, also analo-
gous to coaching in athletics, concerns the
importance of motivation m improvement
The writer’s attitude toward his own game
of golf will illustrate this point Although
the course of his ball may be likened to the
meandenngs of a child’s tiddlywink, the
wnter does not see any great need to im-
prove his game, or at least he does not want
to take the trouble to work at it. In this
case, no coach in the world can do much

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT I

good. To state this principle in a positive
form, it has been found that the student
must sincerely desiie to improve his study
skills before these projects can be of much
assistance. Mere exposure to such a program
will not help him

Finally, it is obvious that emphasis will
be placed on developing effective skills, not
just in finding out about them Much of this
book IS devoted to helping the student dis-
cover his difficulties and leam what to do
about them, some practice exercises are in-
cluded but much of the actual practice
should be done in his other courses The
student will get his practice by actually
doing his work more effectively during study
hours, in other classes, while reading at the
library, and so on Evaluation of achieve-
ment should be based on how much progress
a student makes toward remedying his prob-
lems rather than on how much he knows in
comparison to others

Self Insight

Does the typical student know how good
he is in various traits? How poor he may
be in others? He doubtless feels that by tlie
time he is in college he ought to know him-
self quite well In such traits as height and
weight, where he has had frequent measure-
ments and has seen tables of norms, he
probably does have a fairly accurate notion,
but everyday life provides few opportunities

for objective measures of abilities and other
personality traits which affect school success
A person must be able to determine whether
or not he needs help in developing study
skills so the question of how accurately stu-
dents estimate their own abilities becomes
important in a how-to-study program.

The discussion of this topic will have
greater interest and meaning for the reader
when he fills out the following Check List.
Checks can be lightly made and erased later,
no one will ask to see the results Ratings
should be frank and honest. Later in the
book, tests are provided for some of these
traits; the reader may be interested in seeing
how accurately he can estimate his relative
standing

How do you compare in each of the fol-
lowing tiaits with the other students in your
college? If you feel that you are m the top
fifth (20 per cent) on a given trait, check
in the first or left-hand box, if you feel that
you are in the bottom fifth on that trait,
check in the third or right-hand box, but if
you feel that you are in the middle 60 per
cent on that trait, check in the middle box

Interesting results have been obtained
from using this type of rating sheet with
high-school and college students In several
schools, the entire junior or senior class was
asked to fill out such a sheet, since each stu-
dent compared himself to the rest of the

In My College, Fm in the

Top MiddlA Bottom
20 Per Cent 60 Per Cent 20 Per Cent

Speed of leading

Ability to understand textbooka

Vocabulary . .

At ease with persons of own sex

Honesty

1

Note-taking abihty . . . .

Spelling

Grammar

Abihty to recite in class

INTRODUCTION

class and everyone in the class answered, the
distribution of rating in the three levels
should have been 20, 60, and 20 per cent,
respectively Every effort was made to get
as accurate estimates as possible; the students
were told that they would not be ashed to
sign their names and that the data were to
be used only as part of a research project
The actual results showed a marked tend-
ency to overratei For instance, only 11 per
cent on the average rated themselves in the
bottom fifth on a trait Thus only 1 per
cent felt they were in the bottom fifth in
honesty, while 59 per cent felt they were
more honest than the top 20 per cent of
then classmates Only 3 per cent felt they
were in the bottom 20 per cent in being at
ease with their own sex, but 45 per cent
felt tliey were more at ease than the top
fifth of their classmates Only 8 per cent
felt they were in the bottom fifth in ability
to understand textbooks and 37 per cent
felt tliat they were in the top fifth® Such
overratings are in part products of (1) an
unwillingness on the part of a person to
admit to himself (the results were other-
wise anonymous) that he might be deficient
and (2) the normal tendency to view one-
self through rose-colored glasses It is little
wonder that a lecture or an assignment on
how to improve usually does so little good
when the advice seems to apply so much
more to someone else than to oneself!

Even though there is a tendency to rate
oneself high, is a person’s self-ratmg related
to his score on a standardized test which
measures the same trait? Various studies in-
dicate not. In one study in which students
were asked to estimate how intelligent they
were in comparison to other college students,
only 40 per cent placed themselves 'withm
the correct fifth of where tliey actually be-

® J C Wnght, A Study of High School Students’
Insight into Then Problems and Resources, Mas-
ter’s thesis, Ohio State Umv,, 1944.

longed, 41 per cent overestimated and 19
per cent underesbmated grossly.® In another
study students’ estimate of how many words
th^ knew correlated only .50 witli their
actual test scores, i e., these students could
estimate their own scores only 14 per cent
better than a blindfolded man could by
pulling numbers from a hat“ Other studies
of ability, English usage, and vocational in-
terests show similar results This small
relationship between estimate and score in-
dicates that students may actually be stran-
gers to their own relative abilities.

The function of this discussion is to point
out the need for the use of diagnostic tests
in how-to-study tiaining Such testing, how-
ever, IS not to be used in grading— it is solely
for the information of the student To assure
tlie reader of this fact, the keys for all tests
in the book are printed in Appendix II

One of the first steps in how-to-study
work IS to help a student discover his profile
of abilifaes and skills Such self-discovery is
of value in itself and shows where training
is needed Feelings of security m schoolwork
are promoted by knowledge of areas of
competence, and energies can be focused
where they will do the most good when
specific difficulties are pointed out. A stu-
dent with such knowledge will not need to
feel, as some do, that he may be altogether
“dumb.” Because diagnostic tests show
what needs to be worked on, a “rifle” rather
than a “shotgun” approach can be used to
pick off specific problems. Finally, a testing

® T H Schutte, Students’ estimates of their abil-
ity and achievement, f Educ Res , 1929, 20 394-
396

R M Bear and H S Odbert, Insight of older
students into thar knowledge of word meanings,
School Rev, 1941, 49 754-760

S Arsenian, Own esbmate and objective meas-
urement, / Educ Psych, 1942, 33’29i-302, N D
M Hnsch, Relationship between interest, ability,
and self-esbmated ability among maladjusted boys,
/. Abn & Soc Psych., 1939, 34 395-399, R C
Crosby and A L Winsor, The validity of students'
esbmates of their interests, / AppZ Psych., 1941,
25 408-414

6 EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT I

program before and after training provides
concrete proof of* gams

How to Use This Book
1 Organization of the Book This book
is designed to assist a student m learn-
ing how to secure the most from his col-
lege life m the classroom, in his study, and
on the campus The projects will assist him
in analyzing the effectiveness of vanous de-
terminants of his success at college and in
selecting suitable steps for improvement.
The projects are presented m three gen-
eral groupings (I) highei-level work
skills, (II) educational deficiencies, and
(III) problems indirectly affecting scholasfac
success Projects in Part One concern special-
ized work skills developed from research on
techniques of learning, le. Survey QjR
Method of Studying, Effective Skills in Ex-
aminations, Skills in Attack and Concentra-
tion, Preparing Reports, and Classroom
Skills Projects in Part Two deal with de-
ficiencies m reading, writing, and anthmetic
which are surprisingly frequent among col-
lege students Projects in Part Three relate
to problems of health, vocational choice,
recreational and social adjustment, and per-
sonal adjustment-problems which distract
some students so much as to affect their
success in college These projects may be
taken up in whatever order most interests a
student Some may wish to work in different
sections of the book at the same time For
instance, while working on the Survey Q3R
Method in the next project, a student may
wish to work on reading rate in Project VII
and also on making a vocational decision
through Project XI As a result, the in-
dividual members of a how-to-study class
may not wish to emphasize the same proj-
ects nor take them up in the same order. In
the final project, the student is given an
opportunity to evaluate his progress m all
these potential problem areas

So much for a general description, but you,
the reader, aie more interested in your own
diagnosis and treatment than in a general
discussion of student problems, especially
since each student’s pioblems are so dis-
fanedy mdividual In otlier words, what are
your problems and what should you do
about them?

The first step in using each project is
evaluation, that is, how you stand m that
skill or trait. With this information you may
decide whether or not you are satisfied with
that particular level of performance The
project will also indicate whether new higher
levels of performance are possible beyond
even the present level of good students This
information again provides a basis for de-
ciding on which projects you wish to work,
as well as giving useful diagnostic informa-
tion for a starting point

Tire second step is devoted to reading
about how you may improve these abilities
and skills Space is provided in each project
so that you may summarize the difficulties
found and suggest the nature of the train-
ing program. The third and last step deals
with practice and is, of course, the most im-
portant part of the whole project. Little
written material can be prepared for this
step because practice must be carried on in
your actual courses in order to obtain the
best results This fact emphasizes that this
IS not a program of reading but of practice.
You can rather quickly read a project and
carry out the evaluative and diagnostic steps,*
but if you find a problem area, it will take
constant application to obtain improvement
Furthermore, as you work on improving
these skills, it will take continuing diagnosis
to point out what still needs to be done to
develop such skills fully.

In brief, your job is to find problem areas
as soon as possible, to determine the specific
nature of tlie difficulty and what higher-level
skills are possible, and then to undertake a

INTRODUCTION

training program This last task is the most
difficult and time-consuming, but it makes
the preliminary ones worth while Aside
from completing the diagnostic step, every
student is not expected to put the same
effort on all projects You should select areas
of need and there devote most of your time
to programs of training

2 The Counselor and the Lahoratoiy.
You may find it difficult to determine with-
out help whether or not a given project will
be worth while for you to work on You
may also find it difficult to decide just what
training activity you should try Further, you
may have difficulty in deciding how much
to do As mentioned earlier, how-to-study
training is m many respects similar to learn-
ing golf where an observer or coach can see
what needs to be worked on and make smt-
able suggestions Furthermore, more effec-
tive suggestions can be made if a student's
actual studying can be frequently observed.
For these reasons, how-to-study training is
done most effectively in a laboratory situa-
tion with the aid of a counselor A student
can benefit from working with this book
without outside assistance, but greater help
will be obtained if he has some otlier person
analyze his study methods, notes, examina-
tions, and papers, and then make suggestions
Most colleges provide such help through
how-to-study counselors or through courses
on how-to-study The exercises in each proj-
ect are oriented to help the reader make
effective use of this counselor or course.

The term “counselor” is used throughout
this book instead of “instructor” in order to
emphasize the characteristics this observer or
coach must have Fie is there to help you
with your particular problems He will not
lecture merely to give you information and
he will not urge you to do this or that, he
IS there, available for consultation If you
want help, he can check your methods and
plans and so save wasted effort.

3 Diagnostic Tests Many tests have
been provided so as to give a picture of
your study abilities If as many of these as
possible are completed early, a basis is pro-
vided for planning a training program The
counselor can also be more helpful if he has
such test information and any further data
which you feel will help explain your study
difficulties Wliatever information is given
will be considered confidential

The materials necessary for using a test
are included m the book the directions for
taking the test, the key for correcting the
responses, the norms for interpreting results,
and specific exercises for correcting errors.
This arrangement enables vou to take tests
at the time they are most needed (except
in a few instances where some assistance will
have to be given in timing a test), it also
permits you to score a test immediately so
that you may go on with a minimum of
interruption

The following procedure is used in cor-
recting tests After filling out a test, tear out
the key which appears in the back of this
book Fold it close to the column of correct
answers, place tlie strip by your answers, and
mark those that are incorrect It is also useful
at tins time to wnte in the correct answer
and, if designated on the key, the symbol
for the rule diat is violated Place your score
(usually the number of items right) in the
place designated on the test

The next step is to find out what the test
result means, for a given score has little
meaning by itself Two bases for interpreta-
bon are provided

1 All the items in the tests have been
selected because they represent important
aspects or factors in college courses For in-
stance, the items in the English Survey Test
represent the most frequent major errors
which students make in writing and are not
merely a sampling of grammar rules It might
be said then that as a well-educated person

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT 1

you should know or be able to do anything
you may miss.

2 Another meaningful and possibly more
interesting approach is to show how well
you do in comparison with other college
students.^^ To do this, tables of norms are
provided for many of the tests Your next
step, then, is to find a comparative value
(percentile rank, median, or quartile) m the
table of norms and place this beside your
test score These norm terms have the fob
lowing meanings A “percentile” indicates
the per cent among college freshmen who do
poorer than you on that test A "median”
indicates the score of the middlemost person
among college freshmen, and the “first quar-
tile” and the "third quartile” refer to the
scores made by the persons who had one-
quarter and three-quarters of the freshmen
below them respectively This emphasis on
comparison to a college group is important
because students in higher educabon tend
to be a select group The percentile ranks
show how you compare with your compeh-
tion in college but not with the population
at large For instance, one may be at the
tenth percentile in intelligence for college
students and stall be above average for this
trait in comparison to the general popula-
tion of the United States

A table for summarizing your test results
IS placed on the back page of this book
Such a list permits a quick evaluation of
tests taken and, when torn out, will provide
a summary of your test results. Each tame

^“The function of some tests in this book is to
help organize your thinking about certain topics
Others function as quick ways of giving your coun-
selor information These tests are not interpreted
through percenbles, other direcbons accompany
these tests

you take a test, write your result not only
on the test but also on this Summary Sheet.
(As other activities in this book are com-
pleted, they, too, should be recorded on tins
Summary Sheet.)

The final step m making use of a test
result IS to determine for yourself the level
of skill you wish to attain You may be satis-
fied with your present level and wish to do
nothing further on that skill In certain areas,
however, you will feel challenged to impiove
your skills and so plan a training program
If, at the end of the school term, you wish
to measure your gams and find what prob-
lems remain, you may retest yourself on the
tests m this book, or second forms are avail-
able for some areas (See Project XIV )

Certain shortcomings of tests should be
noted when you make interpretations First,
most tests are somewhat unreliable That is,
if the test or a similar test were repeated,
one would not get exactly the same score
because of differences in how hard one
worked, accidental variations in the diffi-
culty of the tests, etc Not that your score
has no value, for this unreliability will pro-
duce fluctuations of only a few points
Second, you may punctuate very carefully
on tire punctuation test, but m your letters
home leave out most of these marks The
test will tend to give your best performance

4. Work to Be Completed m This
Project Please fill out the following ques-
tionnaires witli complete information V^ile
this will be only a rough measure of infor-
mation concerning yourself, the checking on
the Problem Check List will help clarify
your thinking and the information on both
questionnaires will be of great help to the
counselor.

STUDENT DATA SHEET

INTRODUCTION

9

Date

Personal Name , Age Sex M F

Major , , Year Fr So Jr Sr

School Address . , . . ... Phone

Home Address

How many years have you hved m a city (oyer 10,000 population)
town (1,000-10,000) . ., village or country (under 1,000)

Occupation of father Mother

Education of father Mother

Of whom beside yourself does your immediate family consist (i e , father, mother, two younger
sisters, one older brother, grandfather, grandmother)?

Rehgious preference

Educatwnal Which high school subjects did you like best?

Like least?

What high schools or colleges have you attended? .

What scholastic honors (valedictorian, honor society, scholarship) have you won in school?

What grades did you make last term?

What courses m psychology have you had?

Why did you enroll in this remedial course?

Did someone suggest your enrollment?

What courses are you taking this term?

Vooational What are your vocational plans?

Why did you make this vocational choice?

10 EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT I

What other occupations have you considered?

Have you talked over your vocational plans with anyone?

Whom?

What work have you ever done (summer or regular, part or full time)?

Are you now working to help earn your way? If so, what are you doing?

Social To what organizations (commumty as well as school or college) have you belonged? List
specific organizations such as 4-H Club, Boy Scouts, Epwoith League, sorority, editorial board
of school paper, debating team, football team, orchestra, dramatics club, Latin club, student

government board, etc Draw a line under orgamzations to which you now belong

What offices have you held m any organization (mclude chairmanships of committees)?

To what social gatheiings or affairs have you been in the past four weeks?

About how many days have you been away from home m the last year?

Hecreahonal What magazines do you read fairly regularly?

What are your favorite sports, recreations, and hobbies?

Where have you traveled?

Give below any other information about yourself you thmk of significance

Third Step; Answer the following five questions:

SUMMARIZING QUI^TIONS

1. Do you fed that the items you have marked on the list ffive a well-rounded picture of your prob-
lems? . Yes. No If any additional items or explanations are desired, please mdicate
them here.

2 . How would you summarise your chief problems in your own words? Write a brief summary.

3. If the opportunity were offered, would you like to talk over any of these problems with someone
on the college staff? Yes No. If so, do you know the particular perBon(s) with

whom you would like to have these talks? Yes. ■ , . No

VfoU t» CmiMon; Normally the Btatioticol summary » to be made by the counselor In some
dtoations, however, the counselor may wont students to make their own summaries In these cases,
students ^ould be given defimte instructions and a demonstration of the method, preferably after
they have filled out the check list.

Ifulntctumt for Makmt a SUUuttcal Summary

For convenience m summaruing results on an individual case or on groups of students, the 330
problems are classified m eleven areas

(1) Health and Physical Development (HPD) (6) Courtship, Be*, and Mamage (CBM)

(2) Finances, Living Conditions, and Employ- (7) Home and Family (HF)

ment (FLE) (8) Morals and Religion (MR)

(3) Social and Recreational Activities (BRA) (9) Adjustment to College Work (ACW)

U) Social-Psychological Relations (SPR) (10) The Future Vocational and Educational

(5) Personal-Psychological Relations (PPR) (FVE)

(11) Curriculum and Teaching Procedures (CTP)

There are thirty problems in each area, these being arranged in groups of five items across the six
columns of problems The first area is the top group, the second area is the second group, and so on
down the pages On page 4, at the end of each group, is a box m which to record the count of prob-
lems marked m each area In the left half of the box put the number of items circled as important,
in the right half, put the total number marked m the area (includmg the circled items as well as those
underlined only) At the bottom of the page enter the totals for the lut If desired, the area totals
can be recopied to the first page for greater convenience m later reference

PART ONE

HIGHER-LEVEL WORK SKILLS

Years ago many persons were taught to swim
by throwing tliem in the water After their ini-
tial terror they tried to propel themselves
toward the shore while still thrashing the
water to stay up Tire result of such self-m-
struction was commonly known as the “dog
paddle” and eventually permitted the swimmer
to feel reasonably safe in the water and to en-
joy it Some undoubtedly became known as
the best swimmers in the county, but in
modern competition such dog paddlers would
be left far behind Modern methods of swim-
ming were not found by comparing good and
poor dog paddlers, they are based on scientific
research on how to reduce the resistance of the
body in the water and how to obtain the most
forward push with the least effort As a result,
highly efficient swimming methods such as the
crawl have been designed and taught Be-
cause of further research and expert coach-
ing, new swimmings records are constantly be-
ing set

Present and possible future study techniques
furnish an analogous picture. Typically, stu-
dents have to learn to study as best they can,
but such trial-and-error methods result only
in a hodgepodge of inefficient techniques
Since everyone is about equally inefficient, how-
ever, a student can maintain his place in class
on the basis of intelligence and effort But
what if this student could learn an “Australian
crawl” method of studying! His work would
seem much easier and his performance would
be much better.

The reader may be surprised to find that
even good students have bad habits, but several
illustrations can be given One study of soldiers
assigned to ASTP training showed they were a
highly select group in terms of intelligence,
previous scholastic record, and present knowl-
edge, but their study sblls were no better on

the average than those of other college stu-
dents ^ Inquiry brought out tliat, being brighter
than their classmates, they had been able to get
by in high school witli their wits and person-
ality Other studies show that even good stu-
dents pay little attention to boldface headings
m books, le, tliey read as well when such
headings are omitted, and they know few of the
short cuts m term-paper writing Of course,
some people like to do things the hard way, but
others — ^because they are lazy or want to get
done sooner or want to do better — ^like to learn
easier and more efficient ways of doing things

The projects m Part One describe a series
of higher-level work skills which have been
devised from a scientific analysis of how per
sons learn and of tlie nature of school materials
They are called “higher level” because they
represent an entirely different approach to
studying than you have been using “ They will

^ F P Robinson, Study stalls of soldiers m ASTP,
School and Soc, 1943, 58 398-399, also C W
Brown, The study habits of failing and successful
students in the first two years of college, J Expei
Educ, 1941, 9 205-209, F D Brooks and J C
Heston, The validity of items in a study habits in-
ventory, 7 Educ Psych, 1945, jd 257-270

®The idea of higher-level work skills is not new
nor is It hmited to swimming and study skills Time
and motion studies of expert bricklayers showed
many inefficiencies and, when new work arrange-
ments and new techniques were taught, output in-
creased 192 per cent Similarly candy dippers were
helped to increase their output 88 per cent and
seemed to others to work less hard than regular
candy dippers Expenments have been earned out
in which persons were taught methods of pitch dis-
cnminabon, puzzle solving, and card sorting with
resulting performance distinctly above what they
had been able to do before Finally, some experi-
ments have been earned out in teaching persons
techniques of analyzmg problems with resulting
miprovement in the quality of their answers and
the speed with which they were obtained

12

EFFECTIVE STUDY

be taught as new methods and not as an at-
tempt to patch up youi present techniques, i.e ,
the best way to teach the crawl is to teach it
as a whole skill rather than as a modification
of the dog paddle Evidence as to the efficiency
of these higher-level woik sblls will be brought
out in each project The first two projects take

up the problem of school learning in its
chronological aspects selecting and compre-
hending the essential ideas, and remembering
and demonstrating knowledge on examinations
The next three projects in Pait One discuss
skills in attack and concentration, skills in
preparing reports, and skills in the classroom

PROJECT II

SURVEY Q3R METHOD OF STUDYING

Have you ever noticed how students
study? Everyone has his own techniques
which typically are not very efiEcient The
following description (possibly somewhat
exaggerated) may remind you of some of
the ways your friends study if not of yourself.

A Typical Student

Let us for the moment skip over the diffi-
culties of getting to the library, finding a
suitable place to study, looking aiound at
people, finding out what die assignment is,
and getting settled down, these are discussed
in a later project Once started, how does
our typical student go about studying? Hav-
ing found the first page of the assignment,
what does he do next? He probably looks
for die last page, holds the assignment up
to see how thick it is and then leaves a finger
at the end of the lesson as a goal indicator
Have you ever noticed how students, after
reading a while, will hold up the part read
and the part to be read in order to compare
their relative thickness? Also indicative is the
student who, when asked what the lesson
was about, looked at the length of the lesson
and said “about thirty pages ”

Note how many students follow the lines
with their fingers as they read One almost
gets an impression of dutiful line following
so that the next day diey can truthfully say
“I don’t remember, but honest I read every
word ” Some so carefully mark the cadence
of their plodding eyes that their fingernails
seem to be plowing each line under Not all
are ‘line plowers” but certainly few reach

the stage of using headings and context clues.

Most readers feel that they understand
the matenal as tliey read, the trouble comes
later in trying to remember it Thus as they
read along tliey can continually murmur
“mmhm,” “uhhmm” as they see each idea,
much as a mirror passing over the book
might clearly reflect what was printed On
finishing, the book is pushed aside with a
sigh To an impolite inquiry as to what ideas
were discussed, the typical reader has a neb-
ulous feeling that there was much he had
understood but it now is jumbled And
rather than dwell on this discomforting fact,
he prefers to say, “Well that's done, now
for the next lesson”

Of course, there are a few really conscien-
tious students who reread their lessons, some
students read tlieir lessons as many as four
and five times in one sitting But their testi-
mony indicates that this approach is ineffi-
cient and not very fruitful Other students
labonously copy out notes— as much as five
pages on a lesson— only to find later that
they would rather reread the book tlian their
handwriting

How Effective Are Typical Study Methods?

So much for a caricature of the composite,
typical student. What are the facts as to
the outcomes from such study methods?
When several thousand high-school students
were tested immediately after reading a selec-
tion they averaged only 53 per cent right on
the quiz Other experiments also show that
the average student gets only about half of

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT II

the ideas ashed on an immediate qmz^
Since probably every student felt that he
understood each of the ideas as he read the
selection, what can be causing the difficulty?
A similar problem is found when a senes of
numbers, such as 894165873 5, is read
once, each number is readily recognized as
it is read but somehow by the end of the
series the whole thing is mixed up.

And what little is learned acems to be for-
gotten so rapidlyl The solid line in Chart 2

Chart 2 Curves of retention without inter-
vening recall (solid lines) and with intervening
recall (dotted lines) at vanous bme intervals (From
Spitzer,)

shows how rapidly the several thousand liigh-
school students mentioned above tended to
forget what tliey had learned from a single
reading (The conditions which permit
memory to persist as shown by the broken
lines m Chart 2 will be discussed later )
Thus at the end of two weeks the average
student could recall only 20 per cent of
what he knew immediately after reading,
and tins, it will be recalled, was only 53 per
cent right.

Some conscientious students try rereading
their lessons in order to raise the level of
their comprehension accuracy and to retard

^ C V Good, The effect of a single reading ver-
sus two readings of a given body of matenal, J Educ
Meth , 1926, 5 325-329, H F Spitzer, Studies in
retention, J Educ Psych , 1939, 30 641-656, and
see also the norms for the reading tests in this hook.

forgetbng But simply rereading several
times in one sitting does not help compre-
hension accuracy very much, thus m one
experiment the average reader got 69 per
cent right on an easy test after one reading
of the text and only 74, 75, and 74 per cent
nght witlr two, three, and four successive
readings, respectively^ (Later on it will be
shown, however, that reading and then re-
reading at a different time is more effective )

What then can be done? Is there some
other more efficient method of studying
dian reading and rereading a lesson? It is
evident tliat the average student, through
trial-and-error learning, has not found an
efficient way One further experiment illus-
trates this point and indicates one source
for building a better leading technique In
this experiment it was found that a superior
group of students read no faster or any more
accurately when a selection was printed with
headings than they did when reading an
equivalent selection without any headings “
But a boldface heading indicates the subject
of tire text which follows, it can be used to
call to mind what is already known and to
precompiehend or guess as to what will be
said Such a preorientation also helps a stu-
dent discern what is and is not important
as he reads

Rather than analyze the skills of good
students and suggest that poor students em-
ulate them, the educational psychologist has
more recently been conducting experiments
to discover possible bases for devising more
efficient study metliods New methods have
been invented and their worthiness as study
methods tried out A higher-level method
of studying will be presented later m this
project but first it seems best to review the

B English, E L Wdborn, and C D Kil-
han. Studies in substance memorization, J Gen

®F P Robinson and Prudence Hall, Studies of
high-level reading abilities, J Educ Psych , 1941,
32 241-252

SURVEY Q3R METHOD OF STUDYING 15

two types of evidence used m devising this
method (a) cues provided by the way text-
books, lectures, and quizzes are prepared,
and (b) new learning techniques obtained
through extensive experimenting These con-
stitute the next two divisions of this project.

Cues in Course Materials

Rather than being an apparent piling up
of line on line, textbooks are organized with
definite cues, either in typography or m
writing style, to point out what is important
One tends to read fiction straight along,
but nonfiction is usually so written that the
expert reader can know what the mam idea
IS even as he starts to read a section and
IS able to skim, skip, or study m the right
places Training in the use of these cues
will enable a student to speed up his read-
ing, improve his comprehension of essential
points, and— to be discussed more fully in
the next project— predict quiz questions.

The three sources of these cues— in text-
book, in class, and in previous quizzes— will
each be discussed in turn.

1. Textbook Cues

Textbooks usually include many cues in-
dicating what IS important If sensitive to
tliem, a reader can readily increase his read-
ing efiiciency An author in writing a text-
book makes an outline of the six to ten
major points to be developed and in the
final printed copy has this outline inserted
as the boldface headings starting each sec-
tion Major and minor points are differen-
tiated by using centered and indented
headings, and as further help these are often
numbered Some headings give the gist of
the discussion which follows, others merely
announce the topic but do not give tire
answer For instance, the heading “Learning
and Intelligence” indicates that these two
topics will be discussed but does not say
what the nature of their relationship is

While headings which state the mam thesis
are more helpful with precomprehension,
the mere indication of the topic can help
the reader in looking for the answer.

Other cues are also used to indicate im-
portant points Paragraphs typically have
topic or summary sentences at the begin-
ning or at tlie end which state the gist of
the idea under discussion Important state-
ments or definitions are often put in italics
or boldface type Cue phrases and typograph-
ical cues are often used For instance, watch
for numbers as m “three kinds” or “four
causes” followed by sentences or phrases set
off by (1), (2), (3), or (a), (b), (c), (d).
Or, sentences may begin with “First,
Second, And lastly, . ” These rep-

resent dead giveaways as to equal and
important subpoints in an outline Authors
frequently use a listing device to indicate
briefly what is to be discussed in the next
sections or as a summary at the end to
show what has been discussed Finally, the
reader should pay especial attention to
charts, diagrams, and maps, almost invaria-
bly tire author uses them to present the
most important ideas visually *

It will be worth while to analyze several
books to determine how these cues are used,
some authors will prove to be more expert
tlian others in their use Sensitivity to these
cues will do much to speed up reading and
improve comprehension In fact, it is
through the use of such cues that phenom-
enally fast readers, the so-called “page-at-a-
glance” readers, are able to perform, that is,
by merely spotting these important cues

*Expencnce m wrihng manuals for the armed
services has shown the value of these cue indicators
In fact, many of the manual writers adopted a plan
of presenting points in short paragraphs which m
turn were organized in an outline form Cues such
as numhenng, boldface type, diagrams, etc , have
also been much used Research indicates that many
textbook waters could improve the reading ability
of students if they would modify their prose style
through use of more cue indicators

i6 EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT H

they can guess what will be said in between
But such skimming skill or, even more
important, efficient study skill is not to be
obtained through mere knowledge of these
cues, there must be practice in their rapid
recognition and use Such practice will be
provided at the end of this section and
again later on

2. Classroom Cues

A teacher’s time m class is usually so
limited that whatever he says should be
important Students may feel that this is
not true of some lecturers, but even these
professors meant to cover certain important
points and may have wandered, or it may
be drat the students couldn’t see the forest
(main point) because they were too en-
grossed m the details of the trees (illustra-
tions of the point).

A teacher will usually try to cover about
half a dozen points more or less during a
period This may be represented by any
combination from a couple of major points
with several important subpoints to a series
of equal ideas The important skill to be
discussed here is analysis of each teacher’s
lectures to determine if his lecture points
are also emphasized in the textbook. If so,
the student is doubly forewarned; both lec-
ture notes and textbook should be studied
thoroughly on these topics If the lectures
do not take up items m the book, it means
that important supplemental points are
being added which need to be known as
well as those in the textbook. Suggestions
on how to take lecture notes will be dis-
cussed in Project VI

Finally, some cues as to the types of future
quiz questions can be obtained by analyzing
the questions which the teacher uses in class
discussion One can determine in general if
the emphasis runs to definitions, hsts, appli-
cation, problems, or interpretation, and then
' study accordingly

3. Cues from Previous Examinations

When a corrected exam is handed back,
most students fail to recognize it as an
important tool in studying Many get little
further than their test scores Those who do
look over the exam usually concentrate on
what tliey did well, or feel like arguing with
the instructor over items missed On the
otlier hand, an instructor’s second quiz
usually follows the same pattern as his first
Looking over the first test, one can see what
types of questions are asked Wliether they
are primarily true-false, completion, or essay
is not important But are definitions empha-
sized, or problems, or judgment questions,
or hsts? Do the questions come primarily
from the textbook, laboratory book, or class
lectures? Can you find where the topics for
some of the questions appear in the text?
Do they coincide with the headings? Fiom
such an analysis, one can often point up
one’s study technique for the next examina-
tion, one can then be more effective with
no more effort

Practice In brief, then, three sources
of cues— m textbook, lecture, and previous
quizzes— provide the skilled student with
means for promoting greater reading and
listening efficiency and for pointing up his
attempts to review for examinations To
sensibze you to these cues, you are asked
to do four Bungs at this time, further polish-
ing exercises will be carried out later.

First, go back over this project to see what
cues were used Jot down the headings used
m the form of an outline Does this outline
cover all of the important points as you remem-
ber them? Shm over the text and underline
the other ones used, 1 e , numbers, typograph-
ical cues, summary sentences, etc Check these
with your counselor for evaluation.

SURVEY Q3R METHOD OF STUDYING 17

about reading that textbook m order to use the
cues?

Second, rapidly glance over the selecbon
used in the Art Reading Test and )ot down a
brief outline from the major cues there. Now
compare this list of cues with the quiz used in
the reading test, how many of the questions
did you predict? Tire questions in the quiz aie
of two types restating and illustrating points
in the text Do you feel that if you were to
read more material by this author you could
more easily prepare for a quiz? Check your
outline with the counselor for suggestions.

Third, select a textbook from another one of
your courses, mark the cues that the author uses
to indicate important points, and check these
with your counselor. Does this author give you
good cues? What would be a good way to go

Fourth, m this same outside course and text-
book, jot down the headings as a brief outline
Are there many important points? Compare this
outline with your class notes on tins same topic.
Were many important points covered m class?
Were they tlie same or different than the mam
points m the text? If you have a copy of tlie
quiz questions over this section or can remem-
ber any of the questions, what is their relation-
ship to the text or lecture outline?

Experiments to Discover New
Methods

Analysis of the experimental attempts of
educational psychologists to devise new
learning vmethods provides a second basis
for constructing higher-level study skills.

EFFECTIVE STUDY

PROJECT II

These experiments fall into two general prove comprehension as well aS rate. One
categories ( i ) techniques for selecting and idea tried by several experimenters has been
comprehending what is important, and to give questions to tire readers before or as
(2) ways to retard forgetting The discus- they read in order to give them a basis for
Sion will be organized accordingly selecting and organizing the ideas presented

Thus one experimenter divided 170 college
SELECTING AND COMPREHENDING WHAT IS studcnts mto two equated groups and had
IMPORTANT them read materials concerning science and

the history of English literature One group
1. Value of Quick Preview -vras given a list of 20 questions before read-

Several studies indicate that a quick pre- mg, the other group was not Comprehen-
view of the headings 01 a look at the end sion was tested immediately after reading,

summary is of help in reading a chapter, and again two weeks later on a 40-item test

Thus m one experiment, 118 college sopho- (these 20 questions plus 20 other questions) .
mores were put in two equated groups, one As might be expected, the group given the
group being shown how to skim over head- questions did better on these questions, but
mgs and summaries, tire other not When tliey also did as well as the other group on
the two groups were then given a selection the new questions They were superior on

to read, the trained group read 24 per cent the total tests, especially on the one given

faster and as accurately as the students who two weeks later, this is shown graphically in
read in the usual way ° Such a quick over- Chart 3 (Each bar represents a different
view orients the reader and permits a partial selection for which results were obtained,
precomprehension of what is to come; this all differences favor the method of using
head start speeds up the rate at which the questions and a critical ratio of four is sta-
selection can then be comprehended. tistically significant )®

Is there a best time to introduce these
a. Value of Previous Questions questions, 1 e , before, during, or after read-

Of probably greater importance, however, mg? One interesting experiment sheds light
js the discovery of techniques which im-

“ H y McClusky, An expenment on the influ- * E Holmes, Reading guided by questions versus
ence of preliminary skimming on reading, / Educ careful reading and rereading without queshons.
Psych, 1934, 25 521-529 School Rev, 1931, 39 361-371

Selection
^ Eng Lit A
1 1 Eng Lit B
I a Science A
Science B

Is ^"8 Lit C
ga Science C

0123456789 10 n

Critical Ratio

Chari 3 Reading, guided by questions, shows greater efSciency
for both immediate and delayed recall than careful reading and
rereading without use of questions (Adapted from Holmes.)

SURVEY Q3R METHOD OF STUDYING 19

on this problem ’’ In this study 1456 high-
school students, divided into groups of equal
ability, were given a selection about Flor-
ence, Italy, to study for 25 minutes The
selection read by each group, however, vaned
to this extent. For one group questions
concerning facts and generalizations m the
article were presented at the beginning, for
another group these questions came at the
end of the article, for a third group each
question appeared at the beginning of the
section in which it was answered, for a fourth
group each question was placed at die end
of the section in which it was answered,
and for a fifth group no questions were
given during the reading of the article The
test, which all the pupils took after reading
the article, contained lire questions already
asked and other comparable questions Of
these patterns, the two most effective were
all the questions given at the beginning of
the article, and each question placed at the
beginning of the section in which it was
answered. Furthermore, this and other ex-
periments show that each of these two
patterns has its unique advantages A list
of questions at the beginning of an article
orients the reader to the whole subject in
such a way that he can fit facts, not asked
about, into a meaningful picture, this helps
in their retention On the other hand, it is
difficult when reading a long assignment to
keep a list of questions clearly enough in
mind to help most efficiently in organizing
the material The use of questions at the
beginning of each section gives ah immediate
questioning attitude and a core idea around
which to organize the material which fol-
lows

Two things seem evident, then An initial
overview of a lesson to determine '“what it
is about” speeds up reading and provides a

J. N Washburne, The use of queshons in social
science matenal, J Educ Psych , 1929, 20 321-
359

general orientation that helps fit facts to-
gether so they will be better retained Asking
a question just before starting to read a
section gives the most effective mental set
for selecting and retaining the important
facts and generalizations therein As will be
seen later, these two techniques can be com-
bined into one effective study method

What source can the student use to find
such bdpiul questions^ Teachers occasion-
ally provide students witli lists of questions
to direct their study, or questions may be
stated at the end of a chapter or m a labora-
tory manual Such lists, if stated in a way to
make the reader want to find the correct
answers, are useful m providing an overview,
true-false tests, on tlie other hand, are not
helpful because the reader's attitude is one
of acceptance or rejection of the statements ®
But where can the reader obtain the all-
important question he needs as he starts to
read each section of the textbook? One ex-
cellent source has already been discussed
That IS, audiors place many “cues” in their
writings to indicate the main theses under
discussion, the most obvious of these are
boldface headings and italicized phrases. It
IS a simple tnck to turn each of these into
a question as the reader comes to it, he
then reads on seeking the major points
which answer his query

Another problem in learning is to deter-
mine the most efficient size unit which a
given reader can handle in a meaningful way.
Throughout our discussion there has been
an emphasis on obtaining the larger ideas
presented by the autlior Students tend to
get lost in detail and so miss the forest for
the trees Students vary, however, in the size
of the bite of textbook stuff which they can
assimilate at one time Where matenal is
familiar one can more easily take in bigger
ideas than where it is unfamiliar Some stu-

® A T Jersild, Examination as an aid to learning,
J Educ Psych , 1929, 20 602-609

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT H

dents, in addition, are not as well trained
as others in grasping these larger ideas Each
reader has the problem then of finding how
far he can read before he has, so to speak,
to come up for air and reorient himself®
It IS obvious that these spots should coincide
if possible with the breaks in tliought of tlie
autlior, le, at tlie end of headed sections
If such headed sections extend over several
pages, then the reader has to use paragraph-
ing and other cues to find the best places for
brief stops to summarize ideas and to re-
orient himself for tlie coming material

Learning poetry illustrates how the most
efficient sized unit may vary with age and
training In memorizing poetry it is generally
best to read and reread the whole poem so
that the total meaning can help with the
learning On the other hand, if the poem is
long and the language difficult to under-
stand, the total meaning will be hard to get,
and reading and rereading the whole poem
will not be parhcularly effective In one
experiment children at different age levels
learned, by the whole method, four poems
varying in lengtlr and difficulty Other
equated groups of children learned these
same poems by the part method The length
and difficulty of the poem on which the
pupils used the whole method most effi-
ciently varied with the developmental level
of the children, children in the lower grades

®Some students try reading straight along, pos-
sibly because of habits developed in fiction reaing,
only to end up with quite hazy notions as to the
content of the lesson. Very often in desperation
they resort to memorizing of key phrases and for-
mulae Probably every student can remember a
time when he couldn’t figure out an algebra equa-
tion or a chemistry formula and tried to “get by”
with memorizing it, the only trouble was that the
instructor changed the letters or numbers in the
equation and the student was stuck. For example,
m one group only 6 per cent didn’t know the an
swer to (x -t- y)® but 28 per cent couldn’t tell the
answer when the question was (bi + b2)®. Further-
more, matenal which is memonzed is forgotten much
more rapidly than matenal learned by understand-
ing it

found the whole method most effective on
the simple poems whereas the pupils in the
higher grades found it most efficient on the
more difficult poems “ A student can tram
himself to handle larger and larger units as
a whole with resulting increased effective-
ness in his work.

3. Value of Outlining

The emphasis above has been on under-
standing the major ideas which tlie author
presents and on seeing the relationship
among these ideas Various experimenters
have tned to devise techniques which would
help tire reader clarify and verbalize his in-
sights and which would give a visual picture
of the ideas and their relationships Of these
techniques, outlining, underlining, and writ-
ing prdcis summaries have been the most
frequently suggested.

Many students have definite opinions
about the value of these techniques While
it IS true that good students tend to keep
notes on their readings more than poor
students, many good students do not Prac-
tically all students agree that taking notes is
a lot of work, they often say that they
scarcely have time to read the lesson and
certainly wouldn’t have time to read and
take notes Many students, having given
note-taking a trial, report that it slowed tliem
down and did not seem to help, in fact,
some feel that the lengthened time and extra
activity made it harder to get the lesson.

These observations have been verified by
experiments in which students’ effectiveness
with various of tliese techniques tned more
or less for the first time, was compared with
simply reading and rereading. In one experi-
ment 242 college students tried the tech-
niques of underlining, outlining, writing
pr6cis summaries, and simply reading and

M L Northway, Difficulty of the Task and the
Ability of the Subject as Factors m Whole-Part
Learning, M A thesis, Umv of Toronto, ^934

SURVEY Q3R METHOD OF STUDYING 21

rereading on different selections equated for
difficulty. Not much difference was found in
the effectiveness of these techniques, the
clearest difference was between reading and
underlining compared to reading and writing
a summary^’- Analysis of students’ behavior
m this and other experiments showed that
the students did not know how to use these
other techniques very well and became so
involved in indiscriminate note-taking and
compositional efforts that their reading com-
prehension was actually hindered Having
tried these techniques once or twice, many
students decide to rely on the one technique
with which they are familiar, eg, reading
and rereading These students are like the
bashful boy who complained of great diffi-
culty in talking to girls, on hearing argu-
ments that it IS easier to talk to a giil while
dancing, he decided to try it on his next
date although he was not a good dancer
Afterwards, when asked how it was, he re-
plied, “Goshl I was so busy placing my feet
that I couldn’t talk at all ”

It IS obvious then that any technique used
must be so automatic and simple as to be
subordinate to the task of reading Rather
than interfere with reading it should help
In the experiment reported above it was
found that underlining was more effective
ffian writing summaries, probably because
me former merely requires die drawing of
lines while writing a summary is a composi-
tional effort On the other hand, underlining
has its disadvantages Students tend to un-
derline too much, to have difficulty seeing
relationships among the scattered under-
linings, and to memorize the author’s words
when studying

To overcome these objections, a type of
bnef, topical outimmg has been devised, it

F Arnold, The comparative efficiency of
certain study techniques in the field of history,
f Educ Psych,, 1942, 33 449-457, also C E. Ger-
mane, The value of the wntten paragraph summary,
/ Educ Res, 1921, 3 116-123,

is called “working notes” to differentiate it
from the type of oudmmg which most stu-
dents know To save time in writing and in
later readmg, headline phrases are used rather
than complete sentences To promote easy
visualization of the mam ideas m the lesson
and again to save time, only the mam ideas
and mam subpoints are jotted down, the
notes on a chapter will cover a half page or
at most a page, and the indentation of sub-
points makes the major points stand out
To cut out clencal, slavish copying into a
notebook, notes are jotted from memory
after reading a meaningful unit such as a
headed section This type of note-taking is
not what most students think of when note-
taking IS mentioned, it sounds much easier
A sample of such notes and a discussion of
lecture notes will be presented later.

Such note-taking may not be particularly
effective the first time it is tried, the new-
ness of any technique tends to upset previous
readmg habits, just as tr5ang a new but better
grip in golf may temporarily spoil one’s score
With practice, however, a student can de-
velop a learning skill which is far more
efficient tlian the usual student method,
such engineered skills are heie called higher-
level learning shlls 'Tins need for practice
and die possibilities of gam with it are
shown in Chart 4 It shows that the first
time tliree groups of students used outlining
as a technique on study units in history it
was not very effective, but after a month’s
practice the technique was highly beneficial
(comparison is to the efficiency of equated
groups who had not been shown how to
outline ).“

Evidence of increased efficiency possible
with extended practice and of the transfer
of efficiency to other courses is shown by
still anodier experiment. Several hundred
high-school students received intensive train-

“ W A Barton, Outlining as a study procedure,
Teach CoU Contn Educ,, No. 4x1, 1930.

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT H

ing (daily lessons for six weeks) in outlining
typical study materials Emphasis was placed
on the thinking side of outlining At the
end it was found that the trained group was
better than a matched control group (re-
ceived no training in outlining) in ability
to comprehend what they read and in
performance on study matenals in other
courses.^®

Thus, in selecting and comprehending
what IS important, tiie student will find it
helpful to make a preview of tlie headings
and final summary before starting to read,
to ask a question based on the heading as
he starts to read each headed section, and
to write brief summary phrases after reading
each section so as to check his comprehen-
sion and to picture the relationship among
the ideas Further it was shown that any

“R Salisbury, Some effects of training m out-
lining, Engl / (Coll Ed ), 1935, 34 111-116,
see also R G Simpson, The effect of speafic train-
ing on ability to read histoncal materials, J Educ
Res, 1929, 30 343-351.

method of outlining must be brief and easy
to do and must be practiced before its
benefits can be obtained.

WAYS TO RETARD FORGETTING

As every student is well aware, forgetting
one’s lessons takes place altogether too
rapidly. Students occasionally reply when
queried in class, “I knew it yesterday, but
it’s gone now” This rapid deterioration of
learning was graphically shown in Chart 2,
two weeks after reading a lesson a student
usually remembers only about 20 per cent
of what he knew immediately after studying
the lesson

The student’s problem in studying is two-
fold learning what should be known, and
then fixing it in memory so it will be there
when wanted A student may develop
facility at picking out important points so
he can do well on an immediate quiz (this
is one reason why many students cram
before exams), but tins does not necessarily
insure that he will remember it There is
need to investigate tlie causes of forgetting
and to develop techniques which will slow
it down.

Nature of Forgetting

Contrary to popular opinion, forgetting is
not simply a weatlienng away of once known
impressions The process of forgetting, like
the process of learning, follows certain dy-
namic patterns whose study permits the
scientist to develop techniques which retard
forgetting. Several facts indicate possible
directions for investigating first, not all
material is forgotten at the same rate, nor
in the same way“ One study shows that

B Newman, Forgetting of meaningful ma-
tenal during sleep and waking, Amer f Psych,,
1939, 5^ J ^ Levine and G Murphy,

TTie learning and forgetting of controversial mate-
nal, J Abn & Soc Psych , 1943, 3S 507-517,
R D Williams and G W Knox, A survey of
dynamic principles governing memory, / Gen,
Psych, 1944, 30 167-179

SURVEY Q3R METHOD OF STUDYING

eight hours after reading a story 86 per cent
of the ideas essential to the plot can he
reproduced but only 23 per cent of the non-
essential ideas Another study shows tlrat
persons tend to forget the content of an
article on a controversial subject more rap-
idly when they disagree with its point of
view than when they agree Darwin said he
found it necessary to jot down immediately
any data which disagreed with his theory of
evolution, but that evidence which sup-
ported the theory was much more easily
remembered. Still other studies show tliat
memories gradually change to fit previous
knowledge and tliought patterns For exam-
ple, tire reddish hair of a long-absent friend
tends to become redder and redder in
memory because it is always thought of as
“red” The bad acts of a "good” king are
harder to remember (unless they arc so
atrocious as to stand out) than the bad acts
of a “bad" king Tire implication of all tliis
for the student is that he should try to get
a thorough understanding of the lesson since
this will help him letain tlie essential ideas
Fuither, he should study carefully those
items which lend to disagree with the gen-
eral theme of a unit

Secondly, not all students forget at the
same rate The student who remembers the
most, immediately after reading, may not
remember the most after two weeks, nor
will several people who make the same score,
immediately after reading, score the same
two weeks later A study of lliese people
who tend to remember the most indicates
that the prime factor m this superiority is
not endowed superiority of memory but
learned skills and attitudes Tlie three pn-
mary methods of attack to be discussed in
tlie sections which follow are interest,
recitation, and distributed learning
1. Interest and Intent to Remember.
Every student intends to remembei what
he studies, at least until the next quiz is

over, but students vary in the degree to
which tiiey mentally clarify the specific
things they intend to remember and in the
strength of this intent. Sonic students have
little more than a vague urging from then
conscience that they ought lo rcnicnilxjr
what they aie reading, but habits of reading
for the moment’s comprehension, as m fic
tion reading, really detennme their behavior
Other students carefully select the points
they feel they will need to know and defi-
nitely attempt to fix them in nnnd The
difference m efficiency is illustrated by a
simple little classroom cxpenuicnt I'hc
teacher in one class asked the students to
copy down twenty words in then notes, hut
no indication was given that they would
later be expected to reproduce these words;
the teacher in another class asked the stu-
dents to copy down these same twenty words
but they weic told that a test on them could
be expected later On an immediate test, (he
warned group was 30 per cent better and on
a delayed test one week later the warned
group was 50 per cent better
In addition to choosing which facts are
lo be icnicmbcrcd and carrying out iictivitics
which will strengthen incnimy, the interest
a student has in a subject seems also lo
foster memory. Thus one more cksirly
remembers incidents from high school dra-
matic and athletic events than he does from
most of his classes. Material which is of
mlcrest is moie apt to be meaningful and
the student is more apt to rememticr it.
Because this fact is well known, teachers
attempt to make their material interesting
to students; the student in turn should make
every attempt to make the material man-
mgful, and tlierefore interesting, to himself.

If he cannot sec its value, he should ask
the instructor to explain its possible rela-
tionships to the student's needs,

2 Recitation One of the most effective
devices to retard forgetbng is very simple

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT U

yet few students malce use of it, and scarcely
ever do so at the best tune An axiom in
preparing oneself for a task is to practice
the way it will later have to be done Since
students have to show their learning tlirough
recitation in class or on tests, the student
may well practice reciting beforehand Stu-
dents often mistakenly believe that, havmg
understood something as a lesson is read
through, it must be known and therefore
will be retained (Remember the example
cited earlier of the list of ten numbers which
were easily comprehended but learned with
difficulty ) Such self-recitation insures that
the material is understood and acts to fix it
in memory.

Tlie techniques of the expert at remem-
bering names (how we envy him) are a good
illustration here. Have you ever watched
such a person? The first thing he does on
being introduced is to repeat the introduced
person’s name aloud immediately, he wants
to be sure he has it straight Otilier persons
are usually engrossed m their own droughts
when introduced because the stranger obvi-
ously means nothing to them at the time,
or if they are paying attention they may
feel sure they won't remember it anyway.
There is no particular intention to remem-
ber as mentioned above And to make
matters worse the introducer is often so
unsure of the name tliat he mumbles it so
that a person doesn’t get it in the first place.
Little wonder that people have trouble in
(learning and) remembering names But to
return to the expert again. He not only says
the name immediately, he may try spelling
it to be sure he has it straight and then
during the course of the conversation he
will use the new name several times In
other words, he learns and uses the name
until it IS fixed in mind

Strong evidence of the value of sdf-
recitation, and furtlier clarification as to the
best time for its use, is given by a study of

several thousand high-school students in
Iowa Reference to part of this study was
made earliei m order to show how rapidly
students tend to forget after a single reading
of an article (sec Chart 2) In this experi-
ment, the groups took an initial test at dif-
ferent intervals after the reading and then
took it again at later times Tire first test,
therefore, acted as a recitation-review for the
later tests The results of such testing-review
are indicated by broken lines in Chart 2, on
page 14 For instance, group I took the
test immediately after reading, after 1 day
and after 21 days, gioup III took its first
test on the first day after reading and again
on die fourteenth day Two things stand
out (1) The recitation-test acted to retard
forgetting and (2) the earlier it came the
better It was found, m fact, tliat with a
single reading tlie student is apt to remem-
ber only 20 per cent at tlie end of two
weeks, but with a single reading followed
immediately with a recitation test, he will
remember 80 per cent' Or as the author says,
“More IS forgotten in one day when reten-
tion is unaided than is forgotten in 63 days
when retention is aided by recall ” Such a
gam is far beyond what rereading will pro-
duce and yet it takes less time^®

The best time to use recitation to retard
forgetbng, tlierefore, is immediately after
reading a lesson. But just where in the
lesson should this self-recitation take placed
That IS, after the lesson is read clear through,
or after each headed section? If the student
waits until the end of the lesson before jot-
ting down an outline from memory, he will
find that he has too hazy a notion of the
details On the other hand, the student
should not stop to recite each time he finds
an important point It seems best to read

“H F Spitzer, Studies in retention, / Educ
Psych , 1939, 30 641-656 See also G Forlano,
School learning with varying methods of pracbee
and rewards. Teach Coll Contn. Educ, 1936,
No 688, 114 pp

SURVEY Q3R METHOD OF STUDYING 25

through a meaningful unit, such as a headed
section, and then try self-recitation This
forces the reader to organize his thinking
in terms of main ideas and does not inter-
rupt study so often as to break the train
of thought

What form should this self-recitation
fake? Many of tlie charactenstics found
necessary for an effective technique in or-
ganizing comprehension are also pertment
here. Any such technique should be simple
and automatic, it should be an aid and not
a distraction to thinking The easier a reci-
tation technique is and the less time it takes,
the better. Recitation techniques of com-
plete outlining, underlining, writing sum-
maries, jotting down summary phrases, and
discussion have been tried, and the system
of reading a headed section and then jotting
from memory a key phrase or so in die
reader's own words has been found tlie
most effective^"' If the reader feels unsure
as he writes these summary phrases from
memory, he can check back over the reading
material And as he progresses through the
chapter these cue phrases are arranged m
outline form in order to present the ideas
of the total lesson m an easily visualized
form, Underlining is not particularly effec-
tive as a recitation technique because die
reader has merely to check back over the
material and recognize important points and
is not forced to check his understanding of
die section

It IS comforting to note that the tech-
nique which was found to promote com-
prehension (turning headings into questions
which are read for and recited on) can also
be used to retard forgetting One general

“H F Arnold, The comparative efficiency of
certain study techniques m fields of history, J Educ
Psych , 1942, 33 449-457, M Bndge, The effect
on retention of different methods of revision, Mel-
bourne Univ, Educ Res Ser, 1.934, Uo 28,
55 pp , C O Mathews, Companson of methods of
study for immediate and delayed recall, J Educ,
Psych , 1938, 29 ioi-io6.

technique serves several ends' The heading
turned to a question tends to cause reading
for important meanings After reading a
section, this same heading-question can be
used as the basis for self-recitation to check
whether ihe answer is known The self-
recitation tends to fix the knowledge in
one’s memory And (to be discussed more
fully later) these heading-questions are
useful in predicting quiz questions for later
review This varied value of a single tech-
nique IS used to advantage m a later section
which presents an over-all technique for
going about textbook studying (Survey

Q3R)

Two other ways are also useful types of
self-recitation, but demand tlie assistance of
another individual Whenever the teacher or
author provides a list of questions covering
the main points of an assignment, these
can be used for self-recitation If quizzes
were used as learnmg aids rather than as end
measures for purposes of grading, they could
be useful in checking comprehension and
in review. Discussion is another effective
device because it is so easily done and em-
phasizes understanding rather than mem-
orizing It is usually difficult to find at
convenient times for study another student
taking the same course, and the urge to visit
may be so powerful as to prevent an efficient
use of study discussion

3. Distributed learning, A relatively sim-
ple way to inciease learning and to improve
retention is to distribute the learning over a
number of short periods instead of trying to
master the entire task at one time Common
sense would accord with the results of re-
search in suggesting that this distribution
would be favorable for routine memorizing
since in such boresome tasks attention is
hkdy to wander after the first few minutes,
several short attempts with attention pre-
sumably fairly high would be superior to long
penods dunng which the student becomes

26 EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT H

bored and inattentive However, the same
situation seems to hold for ‘logical” learning
—not verbatim memorizing— as well In one
experiment two groups of adults were called
upon to read passages of a technical nature
five times— one group five times consecu-
tively in one sitting and the other once each
day for five days A test given immediately
after tlie fiftli reading showed a superionty
in retention of only 4 per cent for the group
using distributed readings, however, at tire
end of two weeks this group showed 20 per
cent greater retention, and 25 per cent after
four weeks, as compared with the group who
did all their reading in one day’-'^ This
experiment is suggestive of the defects of
cramming— there is reasonably good im-
mediate recall, but rapid subsequent forget-
ting

The distribution of study sessions will
vary as they are used to serve either of two
functions the most efficient arrangement to
obtain clear comprehension or quick learn-
ing, and the most efficient arrangement to
renew learning through review Suffice it to
say here, since a thorough discussion of re-
viewing for examinations will be presented
later, that the rate of forgetting and the
value of review near examination time are
prime factors in determining tlie distribu-

D McAustin, A study m logical memory,
Amer / Psych, 1921, 32 370-403

tion of review sessions Wlien it comes to
trying for the first time to understand some
difficult problem or learn some task de-
manding exact reproduction as m a poem
or foreign vocabulary, a quite different distri-
bution of learning sessions is needed. Time
enough should be taken on the first reading
to get a meaningful view of the whole task
and, rather than reread the lesson, evidence
already discussed indicates that an imme
diate effort at self-recitation is very worth
while But how long should the student then
wait for the next session? If he waits too
long there will be so much forgetting that
studying again will seem like a new task If
too soon, the factors of fatigue and boredom
may be operative One experiment shed
some light on this problem Different
equated groups tried reading a lesson as
follows four times in one session, once a
session each three hours apart, once a session
each one day apart, and once a session each
three days apart As will be seen in Chart 5,
the four study sessions three hours apart
was the best of the four plans In general,
then, it would seem wise for a student with
a difficult problem to give it a thorough try,
then return to it later
In planning distributed learning periods,
some consideration should be given to what

English, Welborn, and Killian, op at

Successive

Readings

Readings
3 Hrs Apart

Readings’

1 Day Apart

Readings
3 Days Apart

0 XO 20 30 40

Comprehension Scores

Chart 5, Coinprehenaon scores made by equated groups who
read a selection four times but with different spacings between the
readings. (Based on data from Enghsh, Welborn, and Kilhan.)

^345

_]35 8

SURVEY Q3R METHOD OF STUDYING 27

IS done immediately after each period of
study A similar task may interfere with the
previous learning, especially if it is one de-
manding rather exact reproduction, thus in
memorizing a poem there will be more rapid
forgetting if it is followed immediately by
study of another poem than if some other
activity follows Tire usual ten minutes
between classes not only provides time for
travel but also lets what is learned become
“set” before the student has to start on new
material Wlien studying in the evening, the
student may well reward himself with a bnef
respite aftei finishing a lesson and before
starting a new one A rest at this time will
make a break m the middle of tlie new
lesson less likely

It has been shown that forgetting can be
retarded if a student becomes interested in
the material he is reading, intends to remem-
ber it, and distributes his study time Of
further help, and probably most important,
IS the use of a self-recitation technique
after reading each headed section, tlie pre-
ferred form for such self-recitation being
“working notes ” The experimental findings
of this and of the preceding section on select-
ing and comprehending what is important
provide a basis for devising a new, total
method of studying which is highly efficient
This IS the subject of the next section.

Higher-Level S'ruDY Skills

Various books have been written on spe-
cial skills useful in reading books Some
have emphasized increased speed of reading,
others, techniques for getting the most stim-
ulation from an author’s ideas Students,
however, want a skill which will be particu-
larly effective with school textbooks.

J McGeoch and F McKinney, Retroacbve in-
hibition in the learning of poetry, Amer J Psych ,
1954, 46 19-30.

J Adler, How to Read a Booh, Simon &
Schuster, 1940, M A Bessey, Active Reading,
Appleton Century, 1941, N Lewis, How to Read
Better and Faster, Crowell, 1944, I A. Richards,
How to Read a Page, Norton, 1942.

A new technique must be devised, since
the methods of good students are too often
inefficient and no one of the experiments
above used the perfect method The findings
of these experiments, however, contribute a
scientific foundation from which a higher-
level study skill can be devised They showed
that a quick survey of headings and sum-
manes before starting to read gave an orien-
tation which speeded up reading and aided
retention They showed that asking a ques-
tion before starting each section also helped
reading Other experiments showed that the
very rapid forgetting which is so typical after
reading can be markedly slowed down by
die simple expedient of forcing oneself to
recite from memory after reading Other
experiments showed something as to the
best timing of this self-recitalion during the
study period Vanous studies emphasized
die importance of understanding the larger
meanings m die selection, and of seeing
their pattern of relationship Oudinmg, re-
lating the material to one’s interests, and a
brief review when through reading were
shown to help widi diis Still other experi-
ments showed die value of distribution of
effort in studying

Tlie creation of a study skill which uses
these findings, which satisfies the demands
of school study, and which pleases the stu-
dent with its efficiency is a challenge to the
reading specialist The student wants am
suggested method to help him (1) select
what he is expected to know, (2) conipic-
hend these ideas rapidly, (3) fix them in
memory, and later (4) review efficieiith foi
examinations The method must be moie
efficient and less time consuming than ic-
reading lessons And it should not be diffi-
cult to learn.

For years the writer has had students tiy
out vanous mediods which such expeiiiiiciits
have suggested, such trials have led to
further refinements and suggestions One
method has finally been devised which fits

28 EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT H

the criteria above, is more effective than tenal which follows is devoted to a descrip-
typical study methods, and has found stu- tion of this study technique and to exercises
dent approval. Further research may show directed toward developing such skill Fol-
other possible refinements but it is felt tliat lowing this there will be some discussion
this now represents a higher-level skill of of special techniques in studying foreign-
great effectiveness for schoolwork The ma- language and non-prose materials.

nUJ SURVEY Q 3 R METHOD

The title for this new higher-level study skdl is abbreviated in the current fashion to
make it easier to remember and to make reference to it more simple The symbols stand
for the steps which the student follows in using the method, a description of each of
these steps is given below

Survey i. Glance over the headings m the chapter to see the few big points which
will be developed This survey should not take more than a minute and will
show the three to six core ideas around which the rest of the discussion will
cluster If die chapter has a final summary paragraph this will also list the
ideas developed in the chapter This orientation will help you organize the
ideas as you read them later

Question 2 Now begin to work Turn the Erst heading into a question This will arouse
your curiosity and so increase comprehension It will bring to mind informa-
tion already known, thus helping you to understand that section more
quickly And the question will make important points stand out while ex-
planatory detail IS recognized as such This turning a heading into a question
can be done on the instant of reading the heading, but it demands a conscious
effort on the part of the reader to make tins query for which he must read to
find the answer.

Read 3 Read to answer that question, i e , to the end of the first headed section
This is not a passive plowing along each line, but an active search for the
answer

Recite 4 Having read the first sechon, look away from the book and try briefly to
recite the answer to your question Use your own words and name an example
If you can do this you know what is in the book, if you can’t, glance over
the section again An excellent way to do this reciting from memory is to )0t
down cue phrases in outlme form on a sheet of paper Make these notes very
brief!

NOW REPEAT STEPS 2, 3 AND 4 ON EACH SUCCEEDING HEADED SECTION THAT
IS, TURN THE NEXT HEADING INTO A QUESTION, READ TO ANSWER THAT QUES-
TION, AND RECITE THE ANSWER BY JOTTING DOWN CUE PHRASES IN YOUR OUT-
LINE READ IN THIS WAY UNTIL THE ENTIRE LESSON IS COMPLETED.

Review 5 When the lesson has thus been read through, look over your notes to get
a bird’s-eye view of die points and of their relationship and check your
memory as to the content by reciting on the major subpoints under each
heading. This checking of memory can be done by covering up the notes
and trying to recall the mam points Then expose each major point and try
to recall the subpoints listed under it.

SURVEY Q3R METHOD OF STUDYING 29

These five steps of the Survey Q3R
Method— Survey, Question, Read, Recite,
and Review— when polished into a smooth
and efficient method should result m the
student reading faster, picking out tire im-
portant points, and fixing them m memory.
The student will find one other worth-
while outcome quiz questions will seem
happily familiar because the headings turned
into questions are usually the points em-
phasized m quizzes In predicting actual
quiz questions and looking up the answers
beforehand, the student feels that he is
effectively studying what is considered im-
portant in a course

Its Effectiveness

Evidence of the success of this method
has been obtained from several studies In
one experiment several sections of a how-
to-study class measured their reading ability
(reading rate and comprehension accuracy)
on a test which dealt with the history of
Canada, they were then given practice in
die use of the Survey Q3R Method for
several days after which they took anotlier
comparable reading test Before training,
the average rate of reading for the classes
was at the 34th percentile and after training
it was at the 56th percentile, before training
the average accuracy of comprehension was
at the 43rd percentile and after training at
the 53rd percentile In another experiment
an attempt was made to measure the effec-
tiveness of this method for examination
preparation Two quizzes of equal difficulty
were prepared, for the first quiz the students
were permitted to study in their own inimi-
table ways but for the second quiz they were
shown how to predict questions The average
number of errors on the first quiz was 15 but
on the second quiz only 6 One of the most
convincing arguments to the writer has been
the comments of students who have tned
it and found that it worked. Students have

walked into class and said 'T predicted 15
of the 20 questions he asked,” or “Boy, oh
boy, I’ve been getting D's in chemistry but
I got a B yesterday,” or “It looked like he
had picked the quiz questions from my list ”

Further Details of the Method
The descnption above has given an over-
all picture of the method Experience m
teaching its use, however, shows that certain
typical errors may occur, usually because old
study metliods interfere Indicating these
cntical points, so the student can be par-
ticularly careful concerning them, is helpful
in learning a skill These cautions are ar-
ranged according to the steps in the method
a Survey A survey of headings m a les-
son should take only a minute Some
students are so in the habit of reading
on once they get started that, until they
have learned how, they need to make
a conscious effort to look just at the
headings and then to estimate what
the lesson is about. It is worth while
to practice this skill by itself. Take
some reading material on topics with
which you are familiar, eg, news-
papers, digest magazines, previously
read textbooks, etc, glance over the
headings in an article or a chapter, then
make guesses as to what the material
will actually say Check to see how
well you have done.

bandc Reading to answer questions.
Changing a heading into a question
should be a conscious effort to orient
oneself actively toward the material
to be read The reader should definitely
have in mind what he wants to learn
as he reads each section and not just
passively read it line by line Habits
from reading fiction often make it dif-
ficult to read textbooks, for it has been
found that most people read fiction m
order to forget tlieir troubles and not

3 EFFECTIVE

to remember wbat is m the book. Such
an attitude of comprehending for the
moment, when earned over into text-
book reading, gives rise to a delusion
that since the ideas are comprehended
as they are read they will, of course,
be remembered and unconsciously or-
ganized as answers to questions Such
IS far from the truth Reading textbooks
is work, the leader must know what he
IS looking for, look for it, and then
organize his thinking on the topic he
has been reading about
d, Reciting The tendency in reading is
to keep going, but one should stop at
the end of each headed section to see
if he can answer the question asked at
the start of the section As indicated
before, this tends to check whether
the reader has comprehended the ma-
terial, and the recitation fixes the ideas
in memory Furthermore, this insist-
ence on answering the question makes
it easier to force oneself to read with
an active, inquiring attitude
Self-recitation may consist of men-
tally reviewing the answer or writing it
out The latter is more effective since
It forces the reader actually to ver-
balize the answer whereas a mental
review may often fool a reader into
believing that a vague feeling of com-
prehension represents mastery Further-
more, the more sensory channels used
in learning, the more effective it is,
in writing notes one provides visual
and kinaesthetic (muscle) cues as well
qs verbal imagery in thinking about it
But it IS very important that this note-
taking require little time and energy,
the notes should be exceedingly bnef
It is here, m fact, that many students
have the most difficulty with the
Survey Q3R Method Some think they
are to use old habits of lengthy note-

STUDY PROJECT H

taking where all details are copied from
the book, usually as complete sentences
This technique so disrupts the progress
of reading that the tram of thought is
lost Other students, when they spy
something important, aie in the habit
of stopping then to copy it into their
notes— with one finger marking each
phrase as they look back and forth be-
tween book and notes It can truth-
fully be said that many such students
copy a sentence into their notes with-
out ever having read it (for meaning)
because as soon as they see something
in italics they start copying

The student will have to practice
the type of working notes, as they are
called, recommended here First, no
notes are written until the whole
headed section is completely read.
Second, the notes are jotted down
from memory and not from the book.
And third, the notes should be in the
student’s own words and should be
brief, le, little more than a word or
phrase Just as a public speaker’s notes
usually consist of a list of topics as re-
minders of what to talk about next, so
tlie student’s notes should include only
cue words and phrases to demonstrate
to his own satisfaction that he knows
what points are included Knowing a
topic, the student can easily supply an
explanation of it Such brief wording
also keeps tire notes in compact form
so that they can be easily visualized
later in review

The following sample of working
notes based on the first five pages of
die Art Reading test shows how points
can be made to stand out (key words
are italicized for emphasis) and how
the indentations make visualization of
die subpoints easier. Hie brief wording
will not convey full meaning to a

SURVEY Q3R METHOD
stranger, he should read the article,
but the cue phrases are sufEcient re-
minders of what IS in the article to the
student who made the notes

Notes on Art Test

A Art— joining together, signify expenence
B 2 classes

1 Useful arts

2 Fine arts — attempt to express beauty,
triumph

a Artist identifies self with object,
observer also

b Shows effect not causes
c Shows inspiration nature gives
C Character of art

1 Unity — one idea, no distractions in
picture

2 Composition — ^process of selecting
and arranging

a Harmony — consistency of charac-
ter

b. Balance — consistency of attrac-
tions

c Rhythm — consistency of move-
ment

3 Message of art is mood

It IS difEcult to maintain an attitude
of active attack on any type of work
over long periods of time In industry
it has been found more efficient to
alternate periods of working at different
activities Tlie change of activity is less
boring and one can start each new
period with zest In studying, an alter-
nation of reading and note-taking makes
it easier for the student to keep at his
lessons and to maintain an attitude of
active searching foi ideas It is easier to
keep at reading until a headed section
IS finished than it is to complete the
whole lesson, therefore breaks in at-

Some students find even tins amount of note-
taking too laborious! Another technique is to jot
down, or underline in the text, cue words or phrases
which represent probable quiz questions TTie an-
swers are not written These lists then provide a
good basis for review If in reviewing, the answer
doesn’t come immediately to mind, the student
reads in the book

OF STUDYING 3 ^

tention are apt to come at logical places
in the reading mateiial and so do not
disrupt the student’s thinking as much
This alternation of tasks, m fact, helps
make concentration much easier in
studying lessons
e. Review Review immediately after read-
ing should be brief, probably not more
than five mmutes will be needed This
IS certainly much faster than rereading
the lesson The total outline should be
looked over to get an over-all, easily
visualized picture, but the review should
not be limited to this As indicated in
the directions, anotlier attempt at self-
recitation makes sure that the material
IS better fixed in memory
Later reviews are also worth while
because of the forgetting which takes
place The factors influencing the
efficiency of these delayed reviews will
be discussed in tlie next project.

Exercises

In spite of all these do’s and don'ts, the
Survey Q3R Method probably sounds simple,
but so does golf or swimming Just as in
learning any skill, this one will take much
practice to make it highly effective and as
habitual as your present methods And as
with any new skills, this one may seem awk-
ward and ineffective when it is first tried.
So a senes of praehce exercises has been set
up to give you training in the use of tlie
method

Laboratory materials will be used at first
because they are constructed so as to show
what IS wanted and the counselor can more
quickly check errors m method As soon as
possible, however, practice will be earned
out on your actual courses
1 The first step in learning to use the
Survey Q3R Method was descubed on
pages 16-17 Here you learned to recognize
cues in textbook wnting.

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT IJ

2 Tlie second step was also completed
then when you jotted down the list of cues
in outline form This was in reality a first
attempt at working notes It also showed
how such brief notes can predict qmz
questions

3 Now that you understand what text-
book cues and working notes are, the next
step IS to get some practice doing die whole
skill As m coaching baseball, your whole
delivery should be observed and suggestions
made on pertinent difficulties. Pracbce will
be of two types

a. Special reading assignments will be
used m class for a senes of practice ex-
ercises on the use of the Survey Q3R
Method You will be observed while
doing this, your notes will be evaluated,
and, if time permits, quizzes will be
given over these "assignments”
b Dunng the weeks to follow you will
also practice this method on some one
of your courses, preferably one with
much reading in it Keep checking
with your counselor as to furtiier ways
to improve your skill widi the Survey
Q3R Method.

While a student may become particularly
interested in improving one aspect of the
total skill, educational psychologists have
found that a skill is learned most readily if
it is always practiced as a whole Tlius in
studying a lesson, you should cany out the
whole Survey Q3R Method as rapidly and
efficiently as possible When a lesson is com-
pleted you can note the time it took and so
obtain a measure of rate, your notes can be
evaluated by the counselor, and later qmzzes
can be analyzed to see how well the correct
points have been predicted.

Evidence of Improvement
You Will, of course, be interested in seeing
evidence of improvement from use of this
technique. This may show up in various

ways* reading rate may be faster, compre-
hension accuracy may be higher, notes may
be belter, and quiz questions may seem
more familiar because they have been pre-
dicted Charts for designating progress are
provided below or are referred to elsewhere
in this book Although minor fluctuations
may occur in a graph due to chance dif-
ferences in difficulty or variations m your
own efficiency, you should find m time
that the lines representing performance will
gradually progress upwards Charting prog-
ress provides assurance that your efforts
are getting results and will help you and the
counselor discover wheie there is still dif-
ficulty

1 Rate of Reading Note how many
words a minute you are able to read on the
average while completing a lesson Plot this
on the chart on page 112. Rate with and
without note-taking will be quite different,
it will be mteiestmg to keep two lines on
the graph one for rate with notes, the other
for straight reading rate

2. Notes The check list for rating work-
ing notes is on the following pages In
evaluating working notes as a part of the
Survey Q3R Method, two characteristics are
emphasized Do they cover the essential
points? And are they in a good format, 1 e ,
wntmg reduced to a minimum, major points
standing out with subordinate points in-
dented, and written so that self-recitation
can be earned out easily. Have the counselor
rate your notes on this chart so you can
see which aspects need further work

3. Comprehension Accuracy and Predic-
tion of Quiz Questions On the second chart
below, record such measures of compre-
hension accuracy as test scores and esti-
mates of the per cent of questions asked
whicli you were able to predict Great care
must be taken in what is compared to what,
success may be greater on a quiz in one course
than it IS m another because the quizzes m

SURVEY PjR METHOD OF STUDYING 33

the first course are easier So in plotting be-
low be sure to mark each item with enough
descriptive detail so that later comparable
predictions may be joined up with it by a
line The chart will eventually have several
lines on it indicating progress in predicting
quiz questions in one course, accuracy of
comprehension on a series of reading tests,
etc To keep these lines from becoming con-
fused it may be well to make them of dif-
ferent colors or of different types
Scores are not always obtainable or best
presented as per cent right Thus grades
may be given only in a letter form of “A,”
“B,” and “C”; or tlie instructor may indicate

the average score for the class with which
your score can be compared, or tlie test score
itself may be used. You may plot any of
these on the chart so long as they provide
you with a visual evidence of progress
4. Memory Students occasionally find
that then notes agree with the questions
asked, but they had trouble on the quiz
when it was given This is evidence that they
once knew tlie mateiial but it was forgotten
Some such forgetting is normal, but if this
difference is extieme it represents an aspect
needing remediation Whenever you find
missed quiz questions actually listed in your
notes, turn to Project III for assistance.

CHECK LIST FOR ANALYSIS OF STUDENT NOTEBOOK

Each timR the student’s notebook is rated, use a separate column In general, rate the same subject
each time The ratmg is done by checkmg each of the deficiencies found, and double-checking par-
ticularly bad aspects Count the number of checks in each section and put this number in the box
for each boldface headmg Then add all these numbers for the total score Plot this score on the graph;
successive evaluations and plottmgs wdl show any improvement mode

Name of course rated, and
date

General Format:

Handwriting illegible

Too many notebooks

1

Notebook too small

Pages overfilled

Unorganized notes, courses
mixed together

Loose, odd-sized pages

Too much time on notes

Too spread out

Too compact

Organization or Form*

Poor labehng at top

1

1

Need more indentation

1

1

Just a hstmg of points

Not m outlme form

No numbermg system

Use emphasis marks

Hard to see organization

Subtopics unrelated to head

i

i

34

SURVEY Q3R METHOD OF STUDYING 35

Phrasing of Notes

Unnecessary wordiness

Wording does not convey
meaning of section

Missed some of mam ideas

Not fimshing headed sec-
tion before writing notes

Start with cue word

In authoi’s words, not own

Too meager for material
covered

Too much detail

General Quality of Notes

Ratmg on 10-point scale,
with 0 as excellent, 5 as
average, and 10 as ter-
rible or no notes

Total Score

Graph Showing

Improvement

Date

SURVEY Q 3 R METHOD OF STUDYING 37

STUDY SKILLS FOR FOREIGN-LANGUAGE AND
NON-PROSE MATERIALS

Tlie previous discussion has dwelt at length
on techniques of studying the usual college
textbook. Some reading material, however,
is heavily loaded with diagrams, charts, and
formulae, and some is even written almost
entirely m a foreign language Such ma-
terials demand different study skills than
are used with prose. That is, the principles
of learning still apply, but the total study
method is redesigned to fit these special ma-
terials The need for this is well illustrated
when students try to read a formula at the
same rate as the prose which precedes it
The material which follows first discusses
skills in foreign-language study and then
study methods with diagrams, charts, and
formulae.

Foreign-Language Study

Willie some students find the study of a
foreign language easy and interesting, others
find it one of their most difficult subjects
Some of this latter group spend hours each
day studying the strange language and yet
find that they have made little progress
Part of tins is due to differences in facility
at linguistic learning, but learned factors
also determine success in language courses.
While occasionally a student may feel that
he IS aphasic to foreign languages, the causes
actually he elsewhere and are usually remedi-
able.

Some indication of the nature of these
difficulties is shown in a series of experiments
on factors related to success in German
classes “ In the first experiment two groups

P Larsen, J R Wittenborn, and E G
Giesecke, Factors contributing to achievement in
the study of first semester college German, / Exper
Educ , 1942, 10 265-271, J R Wittenborn and
R P Larsen, An empincal evaluation of study
habits in elementary German, J Appl Psych , 1944,
28 420-430, J R Wittenborn and R P Larson’
A factorial study of achievement in college German,
f Educ Psych , 1944, 3 5 39-49. ’

of students, equal m ability but differing
markedly in their success in German, were
measured m a large number of character-
istics that might be related to success in
language. The only areas m which the two
groups showed significant differences were*
En^ish proficiency, desire to master a
foreign language, daily preparation of lessons,
habit of studying collections made on their
papers, and reading German for ideas rather
than translating words. In a second experi-
ment, an analysis was made of the methods
which students use m studying German The
results showed that* (a) The poor students
tended to postpone study but the good
ones mastered each lesson and actually
studied German when they sat down to do
it (b) The poor ones said they had lots of
trouble with grammar while the good ones
didn’t, and said they saw grammar as a
means rather tlian as the end purpose of
their course in English And (c) the poor
ones said they made no special effort to
study declensions while the good students
did, and also had a plan to use in attacking
new German sentences and studied any
correchons which the instructor made on
their papers.

In brief, these factors are of three general
types motivation, English training, and
special skills in foreign-language study Each
of these will be discussed in turn

Some students have difficulty because they
really are not interested m foreign languages
and only study them to fulfill requirements
for a degree And even for those who are
interested, the necessary routine practice
does not provide interesting new facts such
as the buddmg scientist finds m his study
of chemistry It is little wonder that a stu-
dent sometimes prefers to study other more
interestmg courses first and finds it difficult
to keep his mind on his language study. As a
first step in making language study easier,
a student must clarify in his own mind the

38

values he expects to obtain from the study
of a foreign language Since this whole prob-
lem of getting down to work and learning to
concentrate is the topic of Project IV, turn
to that project if you are having trouble witli
language study

Training in English, more specifically in
English grammar, is another important factor
determining success in study of a foreign
language Because greater use is made of
grammar terminology m teaching a foreign
language than in tlie teaching of English,
experiments show that knowledge of English
grammar is actually more higlily related to
success in studying a foreign language than
m studying English

But the necessary grammatical terminology
IS not as extensive as the size of a grammar
book might indicate Following is a list of
grammatical terms that an analysis shows are
frequently used, and which teachers consider
important, m foreign-language study “ This

C and S L Pressey, Essential Preparation
for College, Farrar & Rinehart, 1932

PROJECT n
list IS m addition to the grammatical terms
which a college student would know from
his work m English composition Test your-
self on these terms to see if you can think
of an illustration for each Any terms which
cause difliculty can be looked up m an
English grammar book, a dictionary, or in
J A Meredith and W S Jack’s pamphlet,
Outline English Grammar for Foreign
Language Students (published by its autliors,
1936)

Other practice materials dealing with
English usage will be found in Project VIII,
turn to it if you feel that English usage is a
factor in your language-study problem.

Special techniques for language study are
also important The suggestions which fol-
low deal with the twin problems of learning
to read for meaning and learning vocabulary
and conjugations A first suggestion is to
read constantly for meaning rather than plod
along looking up English equivalents Some
students feel that they have read their lessons
when they have dutifully looked up each

EFFECTIVE STUDY

Technical Vocabulary in Foreign Language Composition

1 masculine gender

2 feminine gender

3 neuter gender

4 possessive pronouns

5 possessive adjectives

6 relative pronouns

7 interrogative pronouns

8 demonstrative pronouns

9 definite articles

10 indefinite articles

11 transitive verbs

12 intransitive verbs

1 3 regular verbs

14 irregular verbs

15 nominative case

16 objective case

17 impersonal verbs

18 reflexive verbs
19. auxiliary verbs

30 infinitives

31 predicate nouns

22 indirect objects

23 negabves

24 mterrogatives

25 prefixes

26 suffixes

27 positive degree

28. comparative degree

29 superlative degree

30 imperfect tense

31 perfect tense

32 pluperfect tense

33 active voice

34 passive voice

35 subjunctive mood

36 imperative mood

37 indicative mood

38 inverted word order

39 syllable

40. declensions

41. conjugations
42 inflection

SURVEY Q3R METHOD OF STUDYING 39

word, but such translating gives little mean-
ing and does not develop habits of expect-
ing meaning, it is not learning to read Since
reading for meaning is difficult the first
time through a lesson, an immediate reread-
ing provides this experience and helps fix
the material in mind Thus rereading, which
IS not effective in studying other textbooks,
IS effective when learning a foreign language
Further practice at reading for meaning can
be obtained by reviewing previous lessons
and by reading easy stories and newspapers
A second suggestion is tlie study of any
specific aspect of the language which causes
trouble Thus, even in chemistry, it is im-
portant to study tlie technical vocabulary,
but in a foreign language it is imperative to
put special study on vocabulary, conjuga-
tions, and idioms Much of this is learned m
reading selections, but some additional prac-
tice IS necessary to fix in mind the meaning
of frequently recurring foreign terms Self-
recitation practice on such word lists is ex-
tremely valuable While only brief use of
self-recitation was shown to be very effective
immediately after reading a headed section
in history, m learning such things as foreign
vocabulary or poetry it is most efficient to
spend as much as four-fifths of the time m
self-recitationi That is, in learning a foreign
language much time will be spent in actual
reading and rereading, but that part of the
time spent in vocabulary study should em-
phasize reciting from memory rather than
mere reading of definitions.^^ A good way
to do this IS to make a pack of vocabulary
caids on one side of the card is written a
foreign term and on tlie other its En glis h
equivalent or the desired declension or con-
jugation Such cards are made for all im-

H A Peterson, Recitation or recall as a factor
m the learning of long prose selections, J Educ
Psych , 1944, 35 220-228, L C Seibert, A senes
of experiments on the learning of French vocabu-
lary, Johns Hopbns Umv Stud Educ, 1932,
No 18, 106 pp

portant or frequently recurring words Drill
IS carried on by looking at the foreign term,
thinking of its meaning and then checking
on the reverse side The cards for those words
that were not known are kept separate for a
second trial, cards for known words are put
in a separate pile and given an occasional
review.

A third technique in foreign-language
study is the development of a three-level
plan of attack on new material

1 Try to foresee what is going to happen
in tlie selection Before starting to read, it is
helpful to read the title and briefly skim over
the selecfaon, this general orientation greatly
helps in recognizing the meaning of words
or in guessing at tlie meaning of entirely
strange words And as a student reads
further in a selection, the story or theme be-
comes clearer so that anticipation is easier,
this attitude should be maintained through-
out the reading

2 Techniques of attack on sentences are
also important In some languages the se-
quence of subject, verb, and object differs
from the pattern in English, the student
should have this pattern clearly in mind
and with difficult sentences make it a prac-
tice to look for the words in that sequence
rather than in the simple chronology of left
to right The position of modifiers in some
languages also differs from their position in
relation to nouns and verbs in English, at-
tention to this detail also helps with difficult
passages Witli sufficient practice or with
easy material, however, the language will
seem so familiar that the student can get
the sense of the sentence as he reads straight
along much as he already does with Eng-
lish.

3. The third level of attack concerns
methods of dealing with unknown words
Very often the context of a selection can
indicate the probable meaning of a strange
word, use context to guess at words and

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT H

finish the sentence or paragraph before using
the dictionary to verify your estimate Very
often a familiar word root will represent
part of a strange word or a known word
may be linked with other unknown words to
form a compound word In either instance,
such analysis of the unknown word may be
sufficient to suggest the correct meaning
which can later be verified Hunches as to
what a word means are right so often that
a student should trust his first hunches and
lead straight along for general meaning,
then check for more exact meanings. This
is more effective than translating each word,
with much turning to the back of the book
or to a dictionary

Foreign languages are taught by different
methods and with different emphases For
instance, some instructors make much use
of grammar or of exact translation while
others emphasize rapid reading for whatever
meaning can be obtained Some emphasize
silent reading ability while others emphasize
pronunciation It is obvious that each
emphasis demands a somewhat different
approach m studying. If you are having
trouble with a language course, ask your in-
structor for suggestions as to the best
methods of learning the language as he is
teaching it.

The following references provide further
discussion of techniques for learning a
foreign language

C Bird, Effective Study Habits, Appleton-
Centuiy, 1931 Pages 78-83

W E Bull and L E Drake, Aids to Lan-
guage Learning Spanish, College Typing
Co , 1941, 57 pages

C C. Crawford, Studying the Major Sub-
jects, published by the author, 1930 Pages
yz-ioz.

C. C Gullette and L C Keating, Learning
a Modern Language, Crofts, 1938, 24
pages

P Hagboldt, Language Learning, Umv Chi-
caeo Press, 1935, 165 pages

Studying Non-Prose Materials

Most textbooks include charts, diagrams,
tables, maps, and formulas as part of the
text which the student is to read, and a sur-
vey of current textbooks indicates that these
forms of presentation are being increasingly
used Students, however, have certain dif-
ficulties in studying them Some students
skip them because they want to keep on
reading the text, other students read them
as if they were prose; still others randomly
glance over the tables and charts There
are as definite techniques for studying charts,
diagrams, tables, and formulae as there are
for prose.

There are two aspects to studying these
non-prose materials, ability to read them and
effective study techniques Knowledge of
how to read these materials is discussed in
Project VII along with other remedial read-
ing problems This section deals with the
study techniques which most effectively use
this reading skill to learn quickly what is
important, 1 e , an over-all plan of studying
assignments which include charts, tables,
formulae, etc.

Non-prose forms usually supplement a
prose text in order to emphasize and sum-
marize important points They may illus-
trate what several paragraphs or pages of
text have discussed Obviously they should
never be skipped as a half page which doesn’t
have to be read. One approach in studying
a lesson is to read a headed section, then
look over the tables and charts before using
self-recitation With a question in mind and
having read the background discussion, the
important points should seem to stand out
in the charts and tables It may become ob-
vious, in fact, that these non-prose materials
are bemg used to emphasize and summarize
the important points Thus, rather than a
random glance, non-prose materials war-
rant an analytic attack based on questions
suggested by the author’s headings.

SURVEY Q3R METHOD OF STUDYING 4I

In some courses, diagrams may be the
fundamental means of presenting essential
material. In zoology, botany, and physiology,
for example, a drawing of an organism may
be the primary device used to present struc-
ture, or m industrial arts a wiring diagram
may be used The prose text in these in-
stances may be supplementary to the draw-
ings If the course requires ability to repro-
duce tins material m whole or in part, then
certain techniques of study are important.
Some students waste time staring at a draw-
ing, possibly hoping, on tlie principle of time
exposure in photography, that such a method
will make the material sink m. The impor-
tant thing IS to practice what you will have
to do later— practice reciting. Look the dia-
gram over trying to figure out its organiza-
tion, i e , the electrical circuit or the blood
circulation system, then push your book aside
and try sketching the diagram from memory
Part will be easy, but part will probably be
too vague to be reproduced Now look back
at the drawing with particular emphasis on
the parts that were vague, then try sketching
it again from memory Very soon a complete
sketch can be made from memory This
technique is the same general pattern used
111 prose reading ask a question about how
it works, look over the diagram to find tlie

answer, then recite from memory to check
what IS known and not known This self-
recitation also helps to make the material
stick in mind If the course requires only
that you correctly label parts of a diagram,
then practice self-recitation by covering up
the labels in the book and naming the parts
Formulae cause particular trouble in read-
ing because they seem so small and are put
right in with the prose text A reader tends
unconseiously to read them at his prose rate
and m his prose manner, 1 e , at a glance A
formula, however, is a short eut for saying
a great deal, tire only way to read one is to
take it slowly and analyze it For instance, in
a chemical formula the interaction of the
constituent parts of the left-hand side need
to be studied until the result or right-hand
side IS understood Wlien a formula is not
easily understood, students often try mem-
orizing it, hoping that this represents com-
prehension Since teachers typically alter
the components of a formula when using it
in a quiz, such memonzation leaves the stu-
dent unprepared To overcome this tendency
and to insure comprehension, it is useful to
make up a simple problem and then apply
the formula Since formulae tend to be so
important, it is a good idea to be sure to
cover them in review.

PROJECT III

EFFECTIVE SKILL IN EXAMINATIONS

A project on examinations follows rather
naturally a project on how to study text-
books Since students typically differentiate
between studying a lesson for the first time
to understand it and reviewing it later for
an examination, the skills needed for each
of these tasks are presented as separate proj-
ects Tlie skills dealing with examinations
are of three general types ( i ) preparing for
examinations, (2) taking examinations, and
(3) making use of returned examinations
Each of these areas will be discussed in turn

A Preparing for Examinations

Knowing that an examination will come
sometime after he has read the lesson, a
student wants to set up a review schedule
which, with the least effort, will place him
at a peak of efficiency for the examination
Research studies indicate not only the best
timing for these reviews, but also something
as to tlie most effective types of review

Timing of Reviews

Since forgetting takes place so rapidly
after learning it is evident that reviews should
come early when review will be easy and
most effective Tire time-honored custom of
cramming also has the value of returning
memory to something of its original fresh-
ness just before the examination Research
studies show that both of these timings are
more effective than review m between ^ The
student’s problem is to distribute his review

^ H A Peterson and others, Some measurements
of the effects of reviews, J Educ Psych, 1935,
a6 65-72

43

times so that no single review takes much
time and so that studying before an ex-
amination does not become a hectic and
fatiguing effort

The best way of going about immediate
reviewing after reading a lesson was discussed
in the preceding project It was evident in
Chart 2 that the immediate self-recitation
and review which are parts of the Survey
Q3R Metliod are of great help in keeping
memory at a high level Another metliod fre-
quently used IS rereading the lesson Reading
and rereading during the same study period
was shown not to be very helpful, but spacing
this rereading with several hours m between
was more effective tlian any other distribu-
tion

Certain principles are also of value m de-
termining the distribution of review time as
die student approaches an examination Tlie
very size of the task of reviewing for a mid-
term or final examination tends to lead to
procrastination Tlie lengthy cramming ses-
sion which finally occurs just before the ex-
amination greatly fatigues the student so he
cannot be as alert the next day on the test
And during a given study period there is a
tendency to get the next day’s lesson before
starting to review, then tliere is rarely time
for review The following principles have
been found to help with these difficulties
Several review times should be scheduled
rather than one lengthy session A review
time should be scheduled separately from
study hme A definite segment of the lesson
should be assigned to each review time so
the task looks possible of completion and

EFFECTIVE STUDY

PROJECT III

does not lead to procrastination. And finally
a student probably should not review for
more than an hour or two the night before
an examination

Between immediate review and review just
before the examination there is need for
some intermediate review to keep the ma-
terial fresh in memory Because, as indicated
in the previous project, memories tend to
become reorganized in a dynamic way witli
the passage of time, such intermediate review
tends to keep ideas in line with the actual
facts read An occasional looking over of
one’s notes, with rereading on obscure points,
will do much to reduce forgetting and will
tie in previous material with what is then
being studied

Kinds of Review

Just as there are most efficient methods
for studying a lesson for the first time, there
are most efficient metliods of review Further-
more, it has been found that the closeness
of the review to the original tune of study
determines which method of review will be
most effective In the Survey Q3R Method
it was shown that an immediate self-reciting
was much more efficient than rereading,
on the other hand, if review does not occur
for some time after reading, so much may
be forgotten tliat self-recitation cannot be
fully effective. This is demonstrated in an

expenment in which large equated groups
read a selection and were tested on it 42
days later, in the meantime the various
groups used different methods of review
spaced at different intervals The results,
summarized in Chart 6, show tliat recitation
IS more efficient than rereading as a method
of review soon after studying a lesson, but
some two or more weeks later rereading is
more efficient “

An active, organizational attack on ma-
tenal is more effective than a passive ap-
proach both in reading and in review In
review tliere should be a prediction of quiz
questions with an active searching for, and an
organization of, the answers In review a stu-
dent should use his notes or textbook head-
ings to indicate probable questions When-
ever an answer is recalled immediately, he
can pass on quickly to the next question.
Whenever recalling an answer is difficult,
the student can skim and reread until tlie
answer is found Such review through ques-
tion answering provides a feeling of com-
pleteness when the job is done that does
not usually follow attempts to reread a whole
book Students who undertake to reread six
weeks’ or a term’s work usually find the task
so enormous that tliey resort to skipping

®A M Sones and J B Stroud, Review, with
special reference to temporal position, J Educ
Psych, 1940, 31 665-676

Position I Position R Position in

(Days 1 and 3) (Days 8 and 15) (Days 15 and 17)

Chart 6. Relative effectiveness of two fands of review at
three different intervals after imtial learning. (From Sones and
Stroud )

EFFECTIVE SKILLS
about and merely glancing at pages here and
there. Tire increasing accuracy with which
a student finds himself studying the right
questions (shown in the chart of question
piediction m the preceding project) also
gives him a feeling of energy well spent m
review Rather than an attitude of “There’s
no telling what he’ll ask” or “One has to
know everything ” tire student predictmg
questions feels definitely oriented with a
realization that “These twenty things are
sure to be asked ”

Too much cannot be said of the value of
notes for review Ratlier than being over-
whelmed with a hundred or more pages
to reread, the student with three to five
pages of notes easily obtains an outlme
picture of this material. Indentations in the
notes make major points stick out and re-
lationships among the major points easily
seen

What effect should the type of examina-
tion have on review method? Most students
believe that one should study differently for
an essay than for an objective examination ®
They feel that the objective examination is
easier and therefore one has to study less
hard, that is, one has only to recognize ratlier
than recall the points Tliere is also a feeling
that one should study details rather tlian
organization of ideas when preparing for
an objective examination Actually, it is
equally hard to make good grades on either
type of examination, and a method of study
which emphasizes understanding the mam
ideas and their relationships should be used
for both That is, scores tend to be higher
on tiue-false examinations because it is
easier to recognize answers than to recall
them and because of opportunities for guess-
ing, but since all students have these same

® E C Class, The effect of the bnd of test an-
nouncement on students’ preparation, J Educ, Res ,
i 935 > 358-361, G Meyer, The effect on recall

and recognition of the examination set in classroom
situabons, / Educ Psych, 1936, 27,81-99.

IN EXAMINATIONS 45

advantages, a given student will find him-
self in the same relative position to the other
students as if he took an essay examination
And while objective questions may seem to
deal witli “small points,” actual comparison
of the topics of these questions with head-
ings m the text will show a close similarity.

Preparation for Final Examinations

The principles which apply to preparing
for quizzes also apply to final examinations,
but because the latter so typically cover the
whole course and count so much on grades,
many students get excited and fall back on
ratlier childish mediods of cramming. Be-
cause of its importance, a special section on
final examinations is included You may feel
at this bme, howevei, that final examinations
are a long way off, this section can be read
now as a summary of the discussion thus
far and should be considered more carefully
near the end of the school term.

Use the charts below to plan your review
time for the last two weeks of the school
term Wnte in your regular classes and the
bmes for tlie final examinations W’rite in
any other necessary activities, such as work
and meetings. Now, write m your study and
review bmes In doing tliis be sure to dif-
feientiate between study time for daily les-
sons in the last days of the term and review
sessions, also label what course and materials
are to be reviewed at each time Wednesday
evening might look like this “7-8 30 Study
Chaps 17 & 18 History; 8 30-g 30 Review
Chaps 1-5 History, 9 30-9 45 relax; 9:45-
io’i5 study French verbs and idioms, 10 15-
10 45 relaxabon and so to bed ” Reviewing
for a given course should be divided up and
assigned to three or four spaced sessions;
the last session before the examination may
well be spent in looking over notes for the
whole course. No review session should be
very long; die task of recalling and organizing
many ideas is so fatiguing that efficiency

46 EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT IH

goes down rapidly after an hour, or an
hour and a half, of review
This ten-day period should be one in
which you live normally The extra review
time may cut down somewhat on your
recreation, but you should he careful to main-
tain usual habits of eating, exercise, and
sleeping Examinations demand a “clear
head” for thinking, staying up half the

night will not produce this Do not fret
and worry about examinations The night
before examinations is too late to learn
much in preparation, review the material
thoroughly and then relax
Review selecfavely Review the important
points, especially those you have trouble
recalling A good way to do this is to take
the mam headings in your notes or m the

Schedule of Bemew for Finals
Befoie E^am Week

Wednesday

Thuisday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

8 00

9 00

10 00

11 00

12 00

1 00

2 00

3 00

4 00

6 00

6 00

7 00

8 00

9 00

10 00

EFFECTIVE SKILLS IN EXAMINATIONS 47

text and see if you can recite the main ideas not very efficient Reread sections only if,

fiom memory Look up those items vnth after looking at a heading, you have trouble

which you have trouble and try recihng remembering what it is about Thus you will

again Or as previously suggested, guess tend to review in a different way than the

what questions will be asked on each chap- lesson was first studied Ask questions, make

ter and recite the mam points from memory, up illustrations for each topic, diagram re-

The headings in the textbook, your class lationships, and discuss the points with a

notes, and previous quizzes are all useful in friend

this piediction of questions During the school term you will have tried

Mere rereading is time consuming and question prediction many times and should

Exam Week

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Piiday

8 00

9 00

10 00

1100

12 00

100

2 00

3 00

4 00

5 00

6 00

7 00

8 00

9 00

10 00

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROTECT ni

have found it effective (see the chart on
page 36) It should also help with your
final examinations. To provide further super-
vised practice, select some one of your final
examinations and write out your predicfaons
of all the major points which may be asked
This can be done by jotting down topics or
by marking these points in your notes with
colored pencil Predictions made for previous
quizzes can be used here Have your coun-
selor check these for further suggestions

B Taking Examinations
Did you ever thank a teacher for giving an
examination? In theory one ought to be
grateful for the hours an instructor spends
m giving a test so that you and he may
know what has been learned and where
further work is needed Almost all students,
however, look forward to tests with trepida-
tion and find the taking of the test some-
what of an ordeal Rather than seeming like
a cooperative effort, students often feel that
teachers’ tests seem more like a battle in
which each tries to outwit the other In any
case the role of tests in determining grades
places so much pressure on students that
they often become upset during an examina-
tion All too often they remember after the
examination what they should have said. On
other questions, they know die material but
can’t see what the questions are driving at,
or later, can’t see why points were taken off
their grades Skills in taking exams, which
will help with these problems, are discussed
below.

Emotional Excitement During the Examina-
tion

All tests are not equally upsetting If the
questions cover familiar material, the student
hurries to write down all that he knows.
Unexpected questions, on the other hand,
scare him so that sometimes he is blocked

completely In the last pioject it was shown
that reading to answer questions helps to
organize learning so that it is remembered
much better. If tliese study questions cover
the same topics as in the examination, then
it will seem familiar and easy Therefore one
of the most effective ways of combating a
tendency to “blow up” on examinations is
to predict quiz questions and study up on
their answers. As indicated previously, this
can be developed into a highly effective skill
And on questions not predicted, it has been
shown that studying in this way is as effec-
tive, if not more so, than the usual student
attitude of “study every little thing because
there’s no telling ”

Students are sometimes bothered because,
as they say, tliey know so much they don’t
know how to begin to express it Or they
get so engrossed m answering the early part
of an examination that they have to hurry
with die last part or omit it Habits of calm
and systematic attack on a test help here A
good instructor builds an examination which
can be answered in the allotted time
although it is usually planned so students
shouldn’t dawdle on any questions

A first step in starting an exam is to glance
over the test to get some idea as to how long
it IS and to see if certain parts count more or
will take more time or may be easier to an-
swer On the basis of such a thirty-second
survey, you should then roughly budget time
to each essay question or to each page or sec-
tion of an objective test It pays to remember
that aldiough all the questions are not
equally easy, they all usually count alike, it
IS better to work on many easy items and
omit a few hard ones than vice versa A final
suggestion on attitude is just to do your
best Although every student would like to
get every question right, it must be remem-
bered that the test has been made difficult
enough to give a range of scores for grading
Think and write on one question at a time.

EFFECTIVE SKILLS
Don’t worry about questions further down
the list until you get to them

Students often get unnecessarily excited
just before an examination They hurnedly
compare ideas as to what the answer is to
some expected question and find themselves
m disagreement Tlie ensuing frantic argu-
ment among partially informed and mistaken
students produces a feeling of insecure
preparation which only serves to upset tlie
student’s ability to think So, if you gel to
the examination early, keep cool witli small
talk Other students try to keep calm by de-
laying their arrival at the ordeal until tire
last minute with the result that they often
arrive late This is upsetting and they may
also miss opening instructions.

Essay Examinations

Each type of examination requires cer-
tain unique skills and has its special dif-
ficulties One common error m wnting on
essay questions is to waste time wnting away
from the subject Because of the press of
time duimg an exam, the instructor has to
limit what he asks for, he therefore directs
the student not to wnte everything he
knows about tlie topic but speafically to
“list the causes,” “compare the outcomes,”
“illustrate these terms” These key words,
as they are called, must be watched for in
essay questions, they help the student to
write exactly on what is wanted Furtlier-
more if the question says “list” or “outline,”
the teacher is expecting a list or an outline
and is annoyed at having to search out the
answer in a rambling essay.

Any question which asks for more than a
brief definition needs to have an organized
answer Yet most students start writing on
the first idea that comes to mind after read-
ing a question and then continue with what-
ever ideas come to mind next, as a result
some weird sequences of ideas are produced.
The grader who has a list of points which

IN EXAMINATIONS 49

should be covered, finds it difficult to de-
termine how many points are included in
such essays, the labor of checking back and
forth to find the items puts him in a frame
of mind to give a low grade It has been
the water’s own experience that when he
finds a test paper whose answers follow an
organized sequence, he often feels like giving,
and does give, a higher grade than the points
listed would warrant An easy and effective
way to obtain this organization is first to jot
down quickly a sketchy outline of key words
which stand for the ideas to be covered.
These ideas remind the student of further
ideas which he inserts at the correct spots
in his list Wribng the essay then becomes
a matter of expounding on each of the ideas
listed Since the grader has to read many
papers, he appreciates any cues which will
speed up Ins reading It pays, therefoie, to
number the main points m an essay or to use
some visual system, such as outlining, to
show the organization of the answer. Often
a hastily drawn diagram will do much to
demonstrate that you see the relationships
among the ideas being presented
Tliere is some conelation between length
of answer on an essay question and its grade
Of course, the student who knows the most
will usually write the most, but one common
failing of students is to feel that a few words
carry as much meaning to the teacher as
they do to the student himself A student
may feel that quofang a definition from tlie
text IS enough, but tlie grader wonders if
these words have been really understood or
merely memorized. Adding an illustration
helps a gieat deal In a question which asks
for “discussion,” do not list points only, but
explain why they are important or how they
are interrelated Elaboration to show full
understanding is different from “padding,”
which is readily recognized and resented.
“Padding” means to bring m irrelevant
points or to repeat points already made m

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT HI

order to £11 up space Explaining what you
mean, giving illustrations, or showing tire
implications of youi points aie different and
much appreciated by the grader

Simple mechanics in writing examinations
may markedly affect grades For instance, m
one experiment on the effect of legibility on
grading papers, 43 teachers were asked to
grade the same compositions at two different
times— one time the compositions were writ-
ten legibly, and the other time tlie same
compositions were wntlen somewhat il-
legibly The compositions in legible hand-
writing received an average grade one letter
higher than the compositions m illegible
handwriting^ Examinations written m ink
are more easily read than those in hard
pencil Also, take a few minutes at the end
of the hour to proofread your paper An ac-
cidentally omitted “not,” or some otlier
word, may grossly affect your grade Be
sure that the questions and their parts are
numbered correctly

Objective Examinations

There are also certain principles which
assist in taking objective examinations Since
every question usually has equal weight you
should woik straight through the list of
questions and not hesitate too long on those
whose answers do not immediately come to
mmd These hard questions should be
checked 111 the margin and returned to later
Such a system insures that all die easy ques-
tions on the examination will be completed,
lat“r questions may remind you of the an-
swers to the ones skipped Be sure to go
back over the examination to answer ques-
tions that were omitted the first time
through.

Find out if there is a correction (a sub-
traction) for guessing If the correction is

W James, The effect of handwriting upon
grading, Engl J , 1927, 16 180-185.

not greater than rights minus wrongs on
true-false questions, and rights minus 1/3
wrongs on four-choice multiple choice, do
your best on each question Witli cor-
rections no greater than these, you should
do as well by guessing as not guessing, and
there is good psychological evidence tliat
you will get more than a chance number
right because of the operation of certain
residual memories from material read If
there is an overcorrection for guessing, such
as rights minus 2 X wrongs on true-false
questions, you should leave unfamiliar ques-
tions blank®

If a true-false question causes difficulty,
the following principle is often helpful
Most such questions are built on the pattern
of bnefly describing two tilings and their
degree of relationship to each other, le,
“Some cats are black” The two “things”
in each statement are usually true, statements
are made false by changing the modifier so
as to overstate or understate the degree of
relationship Tire following senes of modi-
fieis aie typically used
All— most— some— no
Always— usually— sometimes— never
Great— much— little— no
More— equal— less

Positively related— not related— negatively
related
Good— bad
Is— IS not

Wlien a student sees one of these in a
sentence, he can usually test whether the
statement is true by substituting the other
words in that series If none of them makes
a better statement than tire modifier already
in the sentence, the statement is true Tlius
when the above statement “some cats are
black” IS tested by substituting as follows
“All cats are black,” “Most cats are black,”
and “No cats are black,” the original state-

'G M Ruch, The Objective or New-Type Ex-
amination, Scott, Foresman, 1929

EFFECTIVE SKILLS
ment is shown to be true Knowing this
common pattern a student can go to the
Jcey word in true-false statements and not
have to worry about possible exceptions to
each word in the statement

Many students have learned to look for
the key words “no,” “never,” “every,” “all,”
“entirely,” because they usually cause the
statement to be false Tliat is, it is difficult
to make any statement which is true of all
or no items to which it refers. Knowing this
tendency of students to look for these
specific words, however, many instructors
work hard to formulate some statements in
which the use of these terms makes true
statements, le, “An island is entirely sur-
rounded by water ” “All men are mortal ”

Care should also be used in answering a
true-false statement containing two inde-
pendent clauses If one of these is true and
the other false, the whole statement must
be marked “false ”

In answering multiple-choice questions,
certain choices can often be crossed out as
obviously wrong This may reduce your im-
mediate evaluation to one or two possi-
bilities Read the directions If it says mark
the one best answer, do not put more than
one answer in the space provided Such in-
consistencies are marked wrong In answer-
ing matching questions in which a given an-
swer may be used only once, it will obviously
be helpful to answer the known questions
first, and then study the few remaining
choices as answers to the hard questions
Mark out the answers as you use them In
answering completion questions, it is better
to fill in the best answer you can think of
than to leave it blank, such answers often
get complete or partial credit If the ques-
tion calls for a word with a certain number
of letters, use another word which cames a
similar meaning if you cannot think of the
correct word If the answer is quite familiar
to you, but for the moment you are unable

IN EXAMINATIONS 51

to recall it, go on and return to this ques-
tion later Your changed point of view may
assist in overcoming the previous mental
block

New Types of Examinations

Analysis of typical examinations shows
that about 95 per cent of the items deal
with knowledge of facts Though the aver-
age instructor hopes that his students are
also learning certain attitudes, points of view,
ways of th inking, and ways to apply informa-
tion, he assumes that students who know
the most facts must be equally good in these
otlier characteristics This is far from tlie
truth, however, because experiments show
that these characteiistics are not apt to be
learned unless there is teaching and testing
for them For these reasons many teachers
are changing their testing practices to in-
clude measures of these other aspects.

Students have trouble with these new
types of examinations not only because they
may not have the characteristics which the
tests are attempting to measure, but also
because they just don’t know how to take
tliese tests Students who are familiar with
true-false examinations are often stymied by
questions which give all the data needed
right on the test blank and ask the stu-
dent to determine with fine discrimination
whether an accompanying statement is
“true,” “probably true,” “probably false,”
“false,” or there is “insufficient evidence”
to say Tlie wnter has found that many
students feel they don’t understand what
these test items are all about and so resort
to guessing On the other hand, a little ex-
planation of how these tests are constructed
has been found to increase students’ scores
markedly Thus students at Ohio State Uni-
versity who analyzed their errors on a 45-iteni
test of this type were able on the average
to improve their score on a second test by
10 points, furthermore such practice on ex-

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT HI

amples m physics transferred to similar
items in zoology Tlie purpose of this section
IS to show that with a little training a student
can demonstrate his ability on these tests as
well as he now demonstrates his knowledge
on true-false tests

Techniques for measuring points of view,
ways of thinking, and ability to apply infor-
mation are not as well worked out or as
standardized as they are for the usual objec-
tive or essay examination So tlie form of
these tests tends to vary from campus to
campus and from course to course. Two
currently emphasized examples are given
below as illustrations of these new types of
tests Both attempt to measure accuracy and
the kinds of constant errors which students
make in thinking They are known as “inter-
pretation of data” and “application of pnn-
ciples” tests

An interpretation of data test gives all the
necessary information right in the test and
asks the student to determine in terms of
this whether each of a senes of statements
IS true or false, probably true or false, or
whether tliere is insufficient evidence to say
The test is scored not only as to the number
correct but also as to the frequency witli
which a student is “too cautious” and “too
gullible” m handling data That is, the test
measures whether a student has learned to
use data without reading too much or too
little into it In making these test items, a
standard pattern is used- If a statement is
directly verified or denied by the data given
it IS “true” or “false.” On the other hand,
it is “probably true,” or “probably false”
under the following conditions* (a) a slight
extrapolation of a curve, (b) an interpola-
tion between points in a graph, (c) the
behavior of a major part estimated from the
behavior of the whole, and (d) an experi-
ment repeated under comparable conditions
And a statement has “insufficient evidence”

under these conditions (a) comparison
made between data given and data not
given, (b) a cause is attributed for the data,
(c) a value judgment is made in terms of
the data, and (d) a too extended extrapola-
tion is made. A student who knows these
patterns wdl more easily recognize what a
given item is driving at and so be able to
react to it more intelligently
In an “application of principles” test, the
student not only answers a question but also
checks the reasons for his answer from a list
which IS provided Tliese reasons are also
constructed to fit a pattern, in this case, the
incorrect ones are worded so as to resemble
the types of erroneous arguments that people
commonly use These variously disguised
arguments thus represent potential “booby
traps” to catch the unwary thinker, some
diagnosis is possible from an analysis of the
types of errors for which a student tends to
fall. Following is tlie pattern of errors com-
monly used, (a) reasoning by false analogy,
(b) merely restating the conclusion, (c) ref-
erence to similar happenings, (d) appeal to
authority, (e) use of ridicule, (f) teleologi-
cal reasons, (g) irrelevant reasons, and
(h) untiue statements Again it has been
found that students who understand how
these items are made are better able to
demonstrate their ability on these tests, they
at least know for what they are being tested
Many instructors vary the form of their
items from tliat indicated above and other
types of tests are being constantly experi-
mented witli It IS therefore difficult to know
what a student will run into on a given
campus Rather than provide specific train-
ing exercises, it is suggested that the student
analyze his exams to see if they include
items which attempt to measure these non-
mformational aspects and with which he has
trouble Have your counselor assist you in
analyzing how such items are constructed.

EFFECTIVE SKILLS
then make a definite attempt to improve
your skill on such tests

C Making Use of Retukned
Examinations

Your score on a test does not in itself
indicate how well you have done Tests
differ m length and difficulty so that a score
of 70 may be excellent, average, or failing
You need some standard with which to com-
pare your score, 1 e , letter giade equivalents
for your score, the average score of the class,
or something as to tlie range of scores in
the class Having determined your level of
performance, your next step is to determine
what was wrong with }Our attack on the
examination Most students, however, don’t
take this step Having seen then grade, tliey
compare notes with othei students, argue
with the teacher that a certain question
wasn’t fair, or brood on the thought that
they hate exams.

A quiz is a quick and easy way of reciting
on what is important in the course The
items missed are those that need further
study Questions that give difficulty are often
repeated later to see if students have mas-
tered them If you do not see how die correct
answer is derived, ask the instructor for an
explanation. But m any case use each quiz
as a practice review which shows where fur-
ther study will be needed before the final
examination

Much can also be learned from a test as
to what the next one will be like What
kinds of questions were asked definitions?
interpretation? discussions? problems? Were
they primarily from the text or from the
lecture? Were they die ones you had ex-
pected? And of those you hadn’t expected,
where did they come from? What was wrong
With your answers not complete enough?
poor distribution of time on the important
parts of the test? questions omitted and

IN EXAMINATIONS 53

careless mistakes? Very often the instructor
will wnte suggestions on the paper for im-
proving your answers If not, and you cannot
determine what to do, ask the instructor
sometime after class.

Practice So much for a great deal of
advice, the important thing is to try these
skills out on actual tests to see if they work
and to polish them to a level of efficiency
Much of what is stated here ties in directly
widi die mediods of study discussed in the
preceding project, skills winch improve
comprehension and retention are also useful
with examinations Some practice exercises
have already been referred to in this project.
To aid students, the whole program of prac-
tice on examination skills is summaiized
here Set up a regular practice program
along the following lines and check with
your counselor for suggestions

1 Look up the question topics from
some old quizzes m the index of your text-
book Do these topics stand out m the text?
Do they represent headings or other items
set off by typographical cues?

2 Select some outside course in winch
you will make regular predictions of ques-
tions on quizzes Check diese predictions
with your counselor for suggestions or addi-
tions and for ways to speed up making the
predictions. Make such a set of predictions
for a final examination, also

3 After each such predicted quiz is re-
turned, count or estimate the per cent that
has actually been predicted Record tins on
the chart on page 36

4 If practice examinahons are used,
answer the following questions

a Did you do better on the second than
the first test? Did the class? Do you
see how the Survey Q3R Method can
easily be used?

b Analyze these practice tests for key
words in the true-false items. Can you

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT HI

tell which words in a statement make
it false or if changed would easily
make it false?

c Analyze these practice tests for key
words in the essay questions Did you
write directly to the point in your
answers? Did you give what was wanted
and in the form requested? Have your
counselor go over your essay answers
and make suggestions as to possibilities
for improvement in style
5 Bring in available tests, essay and otlier-
wise, from other courses for suggestions
from your counselor as to possibilities for
improvement in method

6 At the time of final examinations, re-
read the section on final examinations and
fill in the time chart

7 Students wishing to read further on
how to take examinations will find the fol-
lowing references interesting and worth-
while

S L Ciawley, Studying Effectively, Prentice-
Hall, 1936 Pages 72-83
R W Frederick, How to Study Handbook,
Applcton-Ccntury, 1938 Pages 291-348
H C McKown, How to Pass a Written Ex-
amination, McGraw-Hill, 1943
A W Ham and M D. Salter, Doctor in the
Making, Lippincott, 1943 Chaps 5, 6,
and 7

PROJECT IV

SKILLS IN ATTACK AND CONCENTRATION

Many students complain that they have
difficulty in settling down to work and in
concentrating, that in hurrying from one
thing to another they seem to get very little
accomplished, or that with so much to do
they cannot relax and enjoy themselves On
the other hand, almost every underclassman
admires some senior who appears to com-
plete all his work at a high standard, who
has time for social activities and recreation,
and who seems unflurried and unworried
about his work Since this senior was prob-
ably a typical freshman at one time and
since skill m concentration is acquired and
not inhented, what skills must he have
learned to enable him to succeed so much
more easily?

Basically much of his success is due (i) to
the development of work-study skills, (a) to
the development of habits of efficient time
use, (3) to the setting up of better study
conditions, and (4) to motivation Wlien
this senior studies, one finds that he wants
a quiet room, that he gets right to work,
that a voice has to be raised to attract his
attention, that he emiihasizes the most im-
portant parts of Ills assignments rather than
reading every word, and that he finishes a
job without unnecessary interruptions Every
student would like to be that way too— it
would make life so much easier!

The first of these areas, the development
of work-study skills, has already been dis-
cussed in Projects II and III The other
three areas, 1 e , habits of efficient time use,
study conditions, and motivation, will be
discussed as separate divisions of this project.

Since inability to get down to work or to
concentrate may be due to many possible
causes, an analysis of each individual's diffi-
culties IS necessary Each division will start
with some queries or other forms of self-
analysis in order to focus attention on the
issues which are of primary importance to
the reader Following this, means of im-
provement will be discussed

Habits of Efficient Time Use

Students’ difficulties in the use of time
tend to be threefold (1) they have feelings
of guilt because they think they don’t study
enough, (2) tliey waste time in moving
from one activity to another, and (3) they
have difficulty in settling down to work even
after tliey have made up tlieir minds to
start

Most students feel that they ought to
study more than tliey do Many have feel-
ings of guilt whenever they stop to talk or
go to a movie But as has already been indi-
cated, good students actually don’t study
more tlian poor students, they are just more
efficient when they do study The piimary
remedy for study difficulties is more effec-
tive metliods of study ratlier than more
study time Good students have good times
m school and it is characteristic that they
usually worry less about needing to study
than students with lower grades It is not
a purpose of this project to try to get you
to study more hours, in the case of “grinds,"
in fact, part of the remedy is to get them
to spend less time in study

The average person usually feels that tlie

55

56 EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT IV

hours m the day pass rapidly with too little
accomplished Pait of the difEculty lies in
the lack of a planned roubne of activities
With a continuing attitude of “what next?”
one has to be constantly making decisions
about next steps Such a person responds
sensitively to distractions about him, he no
sooner starts something tlian he is reminded
of several other pressing matters With little
or no system to a person's activities, every-
thing seems to demand immediate attention.
Two examples will show how, without some
habitual routine, time seems to be frittered
away Tire average student with classes at
nine and eleven behaves somewhat as fol-
lows converses after class (lo minutes),
smokes a cigarette (5 minutes), mails a
letter (15 minutes), starts for tlie library
but meets a friend (15 minutes), then be-
cause of tire time starts for tlie next class.
Or, in the evening tins typical student starts
prodding himself to go to work immediately
after supper, begrudgingly gives himself
until seven to talk, then with self-recnmma-
tion extends this time unbl 7 30 and then
at 8 finally drives himself to work On

settling down he finds that he doesn’t know
tlie assignment and has to fill his pen, once
started he has to stop m order to help his
roommate with some algebra Study is fur
ther interrupted by the “necessity” of plan
ning a week-end tnp and telephoning for a
date Later he passes up going out to eat
with some friends but then finds that he
can’t study after that so he goes out to eat
alone The next day he says he spent the
whole evening trying to study.

Concrete evidence of the difficulty stu-
dents have in settling down to study and
then keeping at it is given in the following
studies.’- Students entering a library room
to study were observed during their first ten
mmutes, it was found that little more than
half of this time was spent productively.
And efficiency after the first ten minutes
was not much more effective.

^ F K Bernen and J L Kennedy, How qmcHy
do students start studjang, School and Soc , 1942,
55 482-483; D C Troth, A ten minute observa-
tion m the library, School and Soc , 1929, 29 336-
338, Helen Randall, A Study of Reading ElEciency
Over Various Time Intervals and Under Different
Work Conditions, Master’s thesis, Ohio State Univ ,

1943

Rate in Words £er Minute

CHAitT 7. Rates at which students read comparable selections during thirty-minute periods under
different conditions- (a) reading for an immediate quiz, and (b) reading for a later qmz in an ap
parendy unhmeii situation and with more study the next day seeming possible, le, similar to
normal study conditions (Smdothed curves adapt^ from Randall )

SKILLS IN ATTACK AND CONCENTRATION 57

In one experiment, students reading for a fact, peoples’ interests and requirements
test several days hence and not knowing differ so much diat no norm can be set,
that their rate of reading was being meas- what is the best distnbution of time for one
ured (le., similar to the usual study situa- individual will not be particularly efficient
tion) read only 6o per cent as fast during for another Table i, which summarizes the
30 minutes as they did on similar material distribution of time of several hundred
when they knew they were taking a reading women m a state university, shows how
test (See Chart 7 ) Indicative that mdi- variable the use of time can be for students,
viduals differ in the degree to which they Critical judgment cannot be made of the
apply their reading skills while studying is total time which a student gives to different
another finding m this same study Knowing lypes of activity, but it can be made of
a person’s rate on a test, one can predict his extremely unbalanced patterns, i e , all work
rate of reading during apparently untimed and no play or vice versa
study only 5 per cent better than just guess- Much more productive to the average
mg! It’s a case of the tortoise and die hare, student is an analysis of this time diary to
some plod steadily along to finish first and find examples of inefficient mixing of activi-
others, more hare-brained, interrupt their ties during a unit of time Thus a student
work to do this and that, may find that instead of spending an evening

at study as he intended, he has actually
intemiptcd this activity so often that he
Self-Evaluation jpgnj. jgjj jjaif of the period produc-

Fill in the accompanying time chart to tively, or he may find that some extra hours
show how you now spend your time Select between classes have been frittered away
several days this week during which you Try rearranging die times you studied or
agree to make an effort several times a day enjoyed recreation into more consecutive
to mark down by 15-minute intervals how periods Does more time seem available than
you have spent your time Be accurate— it did during the hectic rush on those days?
include loafing, talking, walking to class, Later on, principles for the placement of
recreation, etc different activities during the day will be

A first reaction to a time diary like this is presented, on the basis of this information
to see if there has been enough or too litde odier inefficiencies in this time diar} c.in
study, sleep, or recreation As a matter of then be noted.

Table 1 Week-Day Distribution of Tune in Hours and Minutes of Ikeshmen Women, Data Given for
Median, Tirst Quartile, and Third Quartile ®

Median

Q1

Q3

Sleep

8 hr 0 mm

7 hr 30 imn

8 hr 30 mm

Meals

1 hr 13 nun

1 hr 0 mm

1 hr 26 tmn

Class

3 hr 07 nun

2 hr 39 mm

3 hr 35 mm

Study

3 hr 06 mm

2 hr 18 mm

3 hr 52 min

Eecreation

3hr26mm

2 hr 34 mm

4 hr 18 min

Work

1 hr 39 min

67imn

2 hr 21 imn

Personal

1 hr 50 mm

lhr26mm

2 hr 14 mm

Travel

52 mm

33 mm

1 hr 11 mm

Miscellaneous

2 hr 08 mm

1 hr 15 mm

3 hr 03 mm

’ From unpublished data of M V Bean and E A Gaw Used with permission The times do no! total
24. hours because “work" and “travel" were calculated only from, those tune schedules listing them.

PROJECT

SKILLS IN ATTACK AND CONCENTRATION

59

Study Habits Questionnaire ® No right out of 23

Answer each of these questions by writing in one of the following words (oi its niunber) (1) nevei,
(2) seldom, (3) sometimes, (4) often, or (5) always.

Time Distiibution

1 Do you have a plan of work for each day?

2 If so, do you stick to it?

3 Does youi work prevent you from engaging in social activities?

4 Do you allow time for exercise?

5 Do you get enough sleep?

6. Do you have certain horns that you regularly spend m talking and recreation?

7 Do you eat at the same hours each day?

8 Do you tend to spend too much time on social and recieational activities?

9. When you study at night, how long is it usually from the time you close your book until you
are m bed? (Indicate the tune m minutes )

Attitudes

10 Do jOLi feel llial ion lave to '])e’'d loo much tine 'ludiiig'’

11 Do lou icel I hat vou ought lo '.pend mud- t me po'?blo '(iidi’nE?

. 12 Do jou get ten^c and ii.'.iou'. wheuiou 'liid' , o' wonj aboul join woild’

1 3 Do veil teel mo ip iblo o doing i oiii m oi k‘’

14 Do vou I'j to cmuplete a Ir^-on I o.o o .iUo\ .ig intcuiptioii- to lake place'’

15 l\ilh a loui-houi rionoh .i^ignitienr noi’Id \ou tij to toinplele it at one ‘•iltmg li llu'»
than at ui loial auioiciit tinici'’

Wo'k II ibil>

10 Do vou study dunng the houi between t” o chis'ea, s.'v bete een a 9 aim .in 11 o'clock'’

L Do JOU ha\e lioiibic ‘ '•(ltl’'in down lo voik al the beg'nr ng o' i> stiuh' pciiod'’

1.8 Wl'cn \on dinh do vou Jico lerrh gci nt), walk .aboul gl.mec.aa papei oi magazine, oi dj
otliC Hungs wlinh iiifciMi|)l vou/ i.o.k’

19 Do von d.Milic.'uu m clii'-s oi i.hen vou si oubl be "-turij ’>ig ’

20 Do vou dimj a given cmiisc eacn week d.iy m the s.ini( place .ind a( the <-air.c lime'’

21 Do V on get lo cl,is= oi su dov.ji („ siudv , only to find that you do not have voui notebook,
pen, textbook, oi othc. laalc’i! P

22 Do vou get V o'li vvoik m on u ne’

23 Do vou immcduUely go on lo the next le-on when yon Inuo completed Ihe one you aie
w 01 king on’’

^Thc-o .ind Llie (lucstion- used l.’lei
M E 'I'rovci’a Siudj (hic'>tioiin,iue vv
Psychology, Ilarpei, 1915 bbed with pei

concerning studv toi'dn-r.ii- aic ail.-iitcd .loi
Ill'll ai),ic.ais in lliu Iab')iato'i/ ^ o'khooh m
mis-iou

11 r, I’lc'M'v jiiie

Applied jLdoaihon/ii

6o EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT IV

The questions whose numbers are fol-
lowed by periods should be answered “often"
or “always” while those question numbers
not followed by periods should be answered
“seldom” or “never ” The answer to ques-
tion 9 IS “30 minutes or longer ” There is
seldom a paragon, even among good stu-
dents, who can honestly answer all of these
correctly The items missed indicate which
suggestions in die following discussion will
be most pertinent

Program for Improvement
Developing habits of efficient time use is
a somewhat different proposition than many
students believe it to be A person is efficient
not because of any superb display of will
power used to force himself to keep on the
job, but rather because he has developed
habitual patterns or sequences of activities
A person who knows what he wants to do
next and who gets down to work quickly
usually goes about his work with no particu-
lar feeling of effort m “keeping his nose to
the grindstone” Two homely examples of
activities in which most people are efficient
will illustrate- The average person doesn’t
have to be constantiy reminding himself to
remember to eat, even when engrossed m
some activity his attention turns to eating
at the right time This occurs because he has
built up habits of eating at a regular time
He also has litde trouble concentrabng on
eating because every day at this time and
place he has always devoted himself to eat-
ing. Another example is the greater ease one
has m following a time schedule of classes
which meet daily at the same times than in
following a schedule which changes daily
After several weeks on a constant schedule,
the student goes by habit from one class to
the next one, he does not have to prod him-
self to go, he seems to follow the routine
without much thought One would say that
this student finds it easy to concentrate on

getting to class and he is less easily distracted
by friends and activities he sees on the way

It should also be evident that ability to
concentrate and use time efficiently does not
mean drudgery or following a dreary routine
In fact, these habitual skills should make
life seem more interesting. Thus some people
let habit get them to their accustomed eat-
ing places on time while they visit and joke
Other people, because of a habitual routine,
are even able to get to an 8 o’clock while
still enjoying a half-sleep

Tliere are three steps m developing skills
in effective time use working out an effi-
cient time schedule, following this schedule
until work habits develop, and applying con-
scious effort to certain work rules Each of
tliese will be discussed in turn

1 Development of a Time Schedule
School programs are so planned that every
student should be able to have a suitable
balance between study, recreation, eating,
and sleeping. When a student feels too
hurried, he will probably find that rearrang-
ing his use of time— his whole time— will
help The time diary filled out earlier shows
where inefficient use of time tends to occur
With this information and a little experi-
menting, an efficient time schedule can be
worked out Use the first of tlie following
Time Charts to write out this proposed
schedule Experience m using it will prob-
ably suggest the need for some revision, so
after a week’s use of this initial time chart
make a final time chart.

In making out these charts, the following
steps and pnnciples will be of help First,
write m those activities for which the time
IS more or less set, such as eating, sleeping,
class hours, and outside work. In doing this,
be sure to allow adequate time for eating
and sleeping.

Next indicate the hours during which you
expect to study each subject That is, don’t
just say “Study from 7 to 11” but say “Study

SKILLS IN ATTACK AND CONCENTRATION 6i

PLAN OF STUDY, CLASSES, AND EECREATION

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

7 30»

8 00

9 00

10 00

11 00

12 00

12 30

1 00

2 00

1 , '

3 00

1

1

4 00

1

- — -

4 30

_ , '

6 00

5 30

1

i

1

6 00

1

6 30

—

7 00

1

,

7 30

1

8 00

1

8 30

1

9 00

1

- -

—

9 30

i

10 00

1

i

10 30

'

11 00

i r

“ Enter classes m red pencil

Nftme

Week beginning

62 EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT IV

PLAN OP STUDY, CLASSES, AND RECREATION

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Pnday

Saturday

Sunday

rsfi"

8 00

9 00

10 00

11 00

12 00

12 30

1 00

2 00

3 00

4 00

4 30

5 00

6 30

6 00

6 30

7 00

7 30

8 00

8 30

9 00

9 30

10 00

10 30

11 00

“ Enter classes m red pencil

Name.

Week beginning

SKILLS IN ATTACK AND CONCENTRATION 63

history from 7-8 30” and “Study chemistry
from 8 45-10 ” Typical students average
somewhat less than two hours of study for
each hour of class— an often-quoted univer-
sity standard. Furthermore, research shows
that good students differ from poor students
more m effective use of study time than in
the amount * Rather than planning to study
extra hours if doing poorly, you should learn
to make more effective use of your time
Any student who is averaging much more
than two hours daily in preparing for a given
subject should look to otlier projects for
more effective study skills

Having filled m these various activities,
you will normally find that there are still
some hours left over These are your reward
for time well spent, these hours are for rec-
reation Students with heavy outside work
schedules may find little time left over
Such students report that outside work nor-
mally affects hours of recreation more than
anything else Studies of working students,
however, show that they, with few excep-
tions, make as good grades and are as well-
adjusted socially as the non-working stu-
dent® And it IS interesting to note that
students with work schedules usually com-
plain less about pioblems of concentration
than non-working students, their full sched-
ules require them to follow a habitual
routine and so form concentration habits

‘AC Eunoh, The amount of reading and study
among college students, School and Soo , 1933,
37 102-104, J G Jenkins, Student’s use of time,
Personnel /, 1931-1932, 10 259-264, D G Ryans,
Some observations concerning the relationship of
time spent at study to scholarship and other fac-
tors, / Educ Psych , 1938, 30 E G

Williamson, The relationship of number of hours
of study to scholarship, / Educ Psych, 1935,
26 682-688

® S C Newman and R L Mooney, Effects of
self help employment on the college student, J
Higher Educ, 1940, 11 435-442, M E Wagner,
H P Eiduson, and R J Morris, The effects of
Federal Emergency Relief Administration employ-
ment on college grades, School and Soc, 1937,
45 25-26

In assigning definite hours to study and
recreation, certain principles are of assistance

a Normally, it is better to study an as-
signment just after the class m which
it IS given if the class is usually a lecture
section, or just before the class in which
It will be used if emphasis is on recita-
tion or discussion

b In studying over long penods of time,
it IS worth while to stop for a few
minutes between chapters or between
change of subjects® Such a period of
stretching and relaxation allows one to
attack the next lesson with renewed
energy and, more important, it prevents
the immediate study of a diffciciit suli-
ject matter from interfering willi ihc
process of remembering— a jisicholngi-
cal effect known as retro.ici.'C inliibi-
tion

c. It IS better to study a subject c\crv
day at the same time than to li.uc
occasional long sessions 1 his daily
routine develops habits which facililalc
deciding what next to do, 111 getting
down to work, and m conccii lulling

d. Allow a “slowing down” peiiod be-
tween the end of studying and sl.irling
for bed Such a period of icl.'x.ition is
apt to make going to sleep much casici

e Make use of vacant houii between
classes Tliat is, the horn between a
9-0’clock and an 11-o’clock class ii a
poor tame for visiting, it can lie spent
in study so as to reduce ihc evening’s
work.

f. From 4 to 7 p M. IS the usual period
for recreation during the week Idan to
use as much of this period .u possible
for such purposes

2, Habitual Use of Time Schedule
Having developed an efficient lime schedule

®I A Gentry, Immediate effects of 11*1 ci pel, 'cd
rest penods on learning performance 7 ( icJi Coll
Conbi Educ, 1940, No 799

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT I’V

for the school term, the next step is to follow
it until yon habitually turn from each ac-
tivity to the next one It is a good idea to
place the proposed time schedule where
you will see it frequently, e g , in the front
of your notebook or on the wall of your
room Try to follow its pattern each day
Gradually the habit of turning from one
particular activity to another will develop,
getting down to work and concentrating will
begin to seem much easier
It cannot be emphasized too strongly tliat
this aspect of developing skill in concentra-
tion and effective use of time is not based
on merely understanding how important it
IS to study, nor is it a matter of making a
decision really to get down to work. It is a
matter of habit development This will take
much practice and, to keep yourself at it,
you should check your use of time occasion-
ally or have your counselor do it
A time schedule should not be an inflexi-
ble thing which gets in the way Wlieii
special events or opportunibes occur, re-
arrange your schedule, but during the normal
course of events use the basic habit pattern
to guide the flow of the day's activities
3. Applying Work Rules The purpose
of the above program is to develop a tend-
ency to turn habitually to a next scheduled
activity, a student can help this tendency
along by knowing and consciously applying
certain principles of time use As William
James once said, the way to develop a habit
is to do the act at the first opportunity and
to let no exception take place A nght mental
set will go a long way toward helpmg the
above habit formation For instance, don’t
wait for a suitable mood before studying;
begin studying at your regularly set tune
Likewise, try to finish all your work within
the time limits set, do not rob yoursdf of
lecreation time. Don’t worry about all the
work to be accomplished-^-there is a time

scheduled for everything Don’t carry extra
books around— you should know which are
scheduled for studying And don’t waste
time trying to figure out what to study first
—take tlie subject scheduled

Once you are at the study table, try to go
nght to work, force yourself to postpone
other activities until later Check yourself
whenever you start to daydream. Set a time
or page limit on your work because it is
easier to keep at a lesson for 20 more
minutes or five more pages than it is to
promise yourself to study all evening Try
to finish your work within tlie time limits
set, if you should finish early take a short
rest period

Study Conditions

Study conditions affect in three ways the
ability to get down to work and to concen-
trate (a) Distractions tend to draw the
student’s attention away from his work,
(b) Poor lighting, inadequate ventilation
and noise tend to be fatiguing (c) Study
materials not readily available cause the con-
tinuity of work to be broken m order to
hunt for them

Self-Evaluation

A self-evaluation can be only preliminary
at this point Some technical information as
to the best conditions for study will be pre-
sented, then a summary section for self-
evaluabon will be provided in conjunction
with the seebon on plans The questions
which follow, however, will help indicate
which suggestions are most pertinent in the
discussion of study conditions

All the questions below should be an-
swered “seldom” or "never” except for
questions 11, 13, and 14 Question 13 should
be answered “usually” or “always” and the
answers to questions 11 and 14 will be found
in the discussion below.

SKILLS IN ATTACK AND CONCENTRATION

f'’5

Study Conditions Questionnaire No right out of 15

Answer each question by writing in one of the following words (or its number) (1) never, (2) .-olcloiii.
(3) sometimes, (4) usually, or (6) always A few questions are to be completed by writmg in oflioi
answers as directed

Distractions

1 Do you prepare for bed befoie domg some of your studymg?

2 Do you study some of your lessons w'hile m bed or while stretched out on the da^ cnpoi t '

3 Is your room used for many informal meetings durmg the evenmg'*

4. Is your room near some disturbing source of noise?

5 Do you have pictures or thmgs that you like to look at on oi near your study tabic?

6, Do other people m your study room distract you?

7 Does the temperature of your study room make you feel uncomfoitable?

, 8 Is your studying interrupted by thmkmg about various personal problems and woiiip??

9. Is your studying interrupted by thinking about various mteresting events in the ncai
future?

Materials

10 Do you have trouble obtaining the materials that you need for study?

11 How much clear table space do you have for study? That is, about how long and how wide
is the free space on your desk?

Fatigue

. 12. Do you have much glare on your book?

13 Does enough light fall on your book when it is m the position m which you normally have
it when you study? (See directions below on use of the light meter )

14 What type of hghtmg do you have? (a) gooseneck or study lamp; (b) overhead light,

(o) mdirect hghtmg, (d)

16. Is it generally noisy where you usually study?

66

Background Information
1 It IS often difficult to concentrate on
studying because it is more fun to concen-
trate on other doings in college A textbook
]ust isn’t as interesting as a photograph on

PROJECT IV
the study table or a talk session in the same
room, and at the library there are other
distracfaons Something as to the range of
tliese distractions m a library is summarized
in Table 2

EFFECTIVE STUDY

Table 2 Types and Frequency of Distinctions Intel rupting the Library Study of College Men and
Women (Adapted from Troth )

Distraction

Per Cent of Total

Men Women Both

Conversation

32

26

29

Aimless lookmg around

15

15

16

Aimless leafing through books

14

10

12

Students walking by

12

7

10

Vamty oases

0

16

8

Attracted by certam mdividuals

9

6

7

Daydreammg

7

5

6

Reading and wiitmg letters

4

7

5

Arranging hair and clothes

2

7

4

Miscellaneous

6

100

2

100

4

100

These results might seem to indicate that
any place but the library would be better for
study But actual evidence indicates that
students who study in the library get better
grades than students who study elsewhere^
The experimenter found that these two
groups did not differ in intelligence, yet the
ones who studied in the library obtained
grades 4 of a grade point higher, 1 e , almost
half the distance between a C and a B. This
greater effectiveness of library study is prob-
ably due to various things, besides having
fewer distractions than the student’s room
The environment is one always used for
study, so the surroundings act as stimuli
which set off habits and attitudes of study
All necessary study materials tend to be
more readily available there And there is
more desk space The expenment has its
moral, however, some consideration should
be given to determining how distractions in
die library can be cut down Probably the
best solution is to seek a small reading room

Eunch, The significance of library reading
among college students. School and Soc, 1932,
36 92-96

in the library, find a corner and face the
wall Later, if you wish social contacts, move
to the center of the mam library room

Distractions m the student’s own room
can also be cut down Fix it so while sitting
at the study table you can’t see any pictures,
souvenirs, or blotters with football schedules
on them Face your study table to the wall
and not looking out into the room or out
of a window A book can seem more inter-
esting if it has only to compete with bare
surroundings It is nice, on the other hand,
to decorate one's room, but divide it off into
different areas Place pictures and souvenirs
where studying won’t interfere when you
want to meditate upon them with affection
Eliminate all interesting sounds, le, radio
programs and conversations, during study
hours.® Arrange with fellow students to set

® P Fendnck, The influence of music distraction
upon reading efficiency, J Educ Res , 1937, 31
264-271, H B Hovey, Effects of general distrac-
tion on the higher thought processes, Amet J
Psych , 1928, 40 585-591, Brother Richard, The
relationship between freshman marks and study
environment, J Educ Res, 1935-1936, 29 589-

592

SKILLS IN ATTACK AND CONCENTRATION

up a few house rules to maintain quiet
during periods restricted for study
In spite of all these precautions, some
sounds are bound to occur and will naturally
tend to be distracting, but a student can nse
above such minor interruptions by chal-
lenging himself to keep at Ins work for the
designated study period.

2 Various stimuli can also be used to
promote concentration Study habits are de-
veloped and set in motion not only by
repeating a sequence of activities (discussed
earlier) but also by repeating the same sur-
roundings every time one studies If the
same situation is always and only associated
with studying, it has been found that a
student becomes conditioned to concen-
trating on his studies whenever he is in that
situation, A frequently used example of this
phenomenon is the manner in which a
standard situation promotes sleep Before
going to bed one may not feel particularly
sleepy but changing to bed do tires, lying
down on a soft bed and pillow with covers
over one, and turning the light out all pro-
duce a combination of stimuli to which
people are conditioned to respond by going
to sleep Note how much harder it is to go
to sleep in a strange bed and surroundingsl
Similarly in studying, if students study the
same subject in Ae same place at the same
time every weekday, the surroundings all
tend to suggest study and so help concen-
tration It also seems evident that the place
in which one studies should not also be used
for letter writing, card games, day dreaming,
etc, if used only for studying, one is re-
minded only of studying
Posture can also produce stimuli which
remind you of work, other postures may sug-
gest relaxation Take a cue from the way
people behave when listening to an inter-
esting lecture— they sit erect or even strain
forward to obtain each idea Similarly it is
advisable to sit erect in a straight chair while

at the study table. It is even a good practice
(and not bad etiquette) to put your elbows
on the table while studying That is, study-
ing demands an attitude of active work,
using the above posture helps to maintain
this attitude Relaxing m an easy chair, on
the other hand, is not conducive to concen-
tration Worst of all is dressing in pajamas
before starting to study in the evening and
then lying on the davenport or bed while
studying Being conditioned to go to sleep
when in tins g.iib and ponlion the skidciil
has diiEculty coiicculMtmg 11 ho loams lo
stay awake ulnlo doing this, he may aho
tend to stay awake when he icUiC'.

3 Allow adequate space loi all (he in i-
terials you will have to use Ki ichciibuelil
concludes, on the basis of a slucK ot Ihc
needs of over 230 studciils ,u Ihc UnivcrsiLv
of Ilhnois, tli.il the "desk should be, foi a
single individual, apjnoxnnaLeh 30 b\ 4S
inches m size ’ ’ Colled ,ill nc^ossais mate-
rials before slaihng !o studv, so iliat they
will be at hand when needed

4 Noise and pooi hghlnig .iic two un-
necessary cau'cs of fatigue in studs mg Noi'C
not only tends lo distiacL Ihc studenL fioin
his work, but Ihcciicigi deuiindcd in I mug
“not to pay altenlion to d” voais a pcison
down quite lapidlv l'’or inslancc 111 one
study It was found (hat stcnogiaphcrs woik-
ing in a noisi room liii Ihc ke\s hardci and
fatigued more cpnckK than did ^teiiogiaphcrs
working m a rclatisch quiet 100m

Tliere are ihicc ciitcria loi good lighting
(a) adequate and well dislributcd illunmia-
tion, (b) absence of glare, and I'c) light
placed so as not lo sliiuc into the cu'S
Kraehenbuehl's suuc\ ol the kinds of lights
students use shossccl that ouh about 5 per
cent would be coiisiclcicd salisf.idors in
these terms. Gooseneck lamps and tliosc

®J O Kiaetiuibudil, Sl'ith ratillK.-. 111 C>)!’'gc.
Dormitories, Publu.iliO'i No 232 N.ilion.il St.i ut ,
for the Prevenboii of Uliiidncas

68 EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT IV

with "cute” silk shades were the most fre-
quently used types of lights and were among
the poorest in lighting efiBciency Studies at
the University of Minnesota show that a
student should “never read with less than
5 foot-candles of light Where diffusion of
light IS quite unsatisfactory, use 5 to 10 foot-
candles When the illumination is well dis-
tributed, use 10 to 15 foot-candles If no
glare due to faulty distribution of light or
to other factors is present, higher intensities
may be employed with safety, but without
gam in efficiency and comfort ” “ These
studies also show that (a) Indirect or well-
diffused lighting is best, fatigue is fostered
by lights that shine in tire eyes or cause glare
on tlie paper (b) There should not be too
much contrast between ttie lighting on one’s
work and that on the surroundings, there
should be an over-all illumination in the
room of about 3 or 4 foot-candles (c) Col-
ored (monochromatic) light does not have
any advantage over daylight or common
forms of artificial illumination in producing
more efficient reading or less fatigue

A light meter must be used to measure
the amount of light given off by a lamp,
since type of glass, distance from die book,
and efficiency of reflecting surfaces affect die
amount of light produced A light meter
may be obtained from the counselor to
measure the illumination in your study
room“ If this illumination is inadequate

“M A Tinker, Illumination standards for ef
fective and comfortable vision, J Consulting Psych ,
1939, 3 18

To measure illumination, stand the light meter
vertically to the surface being read and the candle-
power illumination will be indicated by the pointer
Readings can be made above 75 foot candles by
clipping the metal plate over the light sensitive cell
of the meter and multiplying the foot-candles on
the scale by 10 When not being used, the plate
can be clipped to the bottom of the meter While
a carefully worked-out illumination survey for a
room is quite involved, sufhcient accuracy can be
obtained for student use by measunng the illumina-
tion on the surface being read and in the immediate
surroundings

and you wish to impress your landlord, the
following clause, written into each housing
contract at the University of Illinois, may
be of use “Each man, if he so desires, is
entitled to 100 watts of electric light”

Since the gooseneck lamp is so frequently
the study lamp available, the following sug-
gestion is given for making it more effective
Face tire lamp toward the wall at your side
and place a shiny white sheet on the wall
to act as a reflector If necessary, increase
the wattage of the bulb, and you will have
a fairly satisfactory lighting system Or the
light can be diffused by placing tracing cloth
over the face of the reflector In this case,
some way will have to be devised to allow
the air to circulate about the heated bulb

Program for Improvement

Some specific activities are listed to help
demonstrate how study conditions do affect
concentration and to suggest remedial possi-
bilities to the reader Carry out each of the
following projects

1 It is surprising and enlightening to see
how often students are distracted as they
study Seeing this in others will make you
more sensitive to distractions in your own
case. For the following exercise go to a
library and watch an individual for a period
of 10 or 15 minutes as he studies If it is a
person in this how-to-study class, your check-
ing will later be of use to him It is better
to have the person at some distance so that
your observing will not be noticeable to him.
Every time there is a change in his behavior,
even though but a brief glance about the
room, tabulate it below This check list is
similar to the list in Table 2, an interesting

The student should use care m handling the light
meter Although the cell is not easily damaged, it
should not be exposed to bnght sunlight for any
appreciable length of time, the cell cover glass
should be kept clean, and the meter should not be
subjected to sudden jolts or blows

SKILLS IN ATTACK AND CONCENTRATION 69

comparison can be made with it when this
checking is completed If this observation
proves interesting, something as to individual
differences in distractibihty can be obtained
by observing and tabulating the behavior of
several individuals

Check List of Woik Behavioi

Willie it is not convenient to tabulate
each thing which tends to distract your own
studying, you should take mental note of
the things which take your attention away
from studying Possibly you can arrange with
a friend to observe your studying and check
the number of times you aie distracted, giv-

ing some indication of the causes Or one
of the other students m this course may use
you as a subject for observation and will turn
his ratings over to you

2 Survey your own study room for evi-
dence of surioundmgs which are distracting
Are there pictures, souvenirs, etc., near
where you study? Is a radio played or do
students talk while you try to study? Also
survey your room for adequacy of lighting,
ventilation and clear table space for study

3 On the basis of the earlier self-evalua-
tion questions, the above checks, and your
own observations, fill in the evaluation of
your study conditions (page 70) and what
you plan to do about them Be specific as to
difficulties and plans

Motivation

Tlie discussion thus far has suggested
improving use of time and concentration
through developing an efficient time plan,
following it until habits develop, and re-
moving distractions which interfere with
concentration But something like leading a
horse to water, he really has to want to
dnnk before he will consume any. The will
to study IS an important, if not the most
important, determiner of effective use of
lime

Many students say that college work is
not interesting to them By a characteris-
tically human projection, they often state
tliat this IS due to their uninteresting courses
and teachers It is a mistake, however, to
assume tliat a course must be entertaining
to be interesting Students in medicine and
law are vitally interested m their courses, but
the material is not sugar coated with jokes
and stories Tlie college authorities, by pre-
sentmg a subject, certify that the content is

12 D D Feder and J S Kounm, Motivational
problems m student eounseling, J AppI Psycli ,
1940, 24 273-286, M E Wagner, Studies in mo-
tivation, Umv oi Buffalo Studies, 1936, 13, No. 5

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT IV

EVALUATION OP STUDY CONDITIONS AND PLANS FOR CORRECTION
Area What’s Wrong Specific Plans

Auditory distractions in room

Visual distractions in room

Personal worries and inteiests
which distract

Auditory distractions at hbrary

Visual distractions at library

Constancy of study conditions
to stimulate study

Posture while studying

Adequacy of lighting

Adequacy of work space

Availability of materials

useful and therefore of interest The cause
of lack of interest in college work almost
always lies with the student himself If he is
not interested m college, or if he is unable
to apply himself to his work in spite of an
expressed interest in it, he needs to under-
take a serious evaluation of his problem

The purpose of this section is not to try
to convince any student that he ought to be
interested m college work Rather a student
needs to think through what his interests are
and what they mean for him. Tire mateiial
which follows will he of some assistance in
such "thinking through ”

SKILLS IN ATTACK AND CONCENTRATION

Why Isn’t College Work Interesting to

Some Students?

Tliere arc many possible reasons The
following are the primary explanations of
why some students can’t get interested
enough to study while other students in the
same courses are interested

1 In the first place, few people are com-
pletely unmotivated, oi not interested m
anything Laziness is an expression of lack of
interest in immediately available activities,
not a cause of it It is characteristic that one
likes to do some things and dislikes to do
certain others Occasionally one of the latter
IS college work A general apatliy or lack of
energy would strongly suggest the need for
a medical examination

2 Personal problems seem of such im-
portance that worry about them dispels
inteiest m college work Such threats to
personal security must be eliminated before
continued interest m study can return. See
Project XIII for a discussion of this

3 Many people are not interested, and
rightly so, m doing college work For some,
college attendance may not represent the
best step toward attainment of success They
might like business or trade schools much
better These schools provide training for
entering well-paid occupations for which
some people have Uie ability and interest
Such training can usually be obtained m
less time than m college and it often results
m faster advancement for these individuals
than if they had attended college. In other
instances, direct entry into woik may be the
best path towaid success In our democracy,
these various forms of education do not have
any superiority over each other, each pre-
pares for different aspects of life, and differ-
ent types of persons are best suited to each

Other students are not yet vitally inter-
ested m preparations for adult living and a
vocation, they are, therefore, little interested

in the work of college classes Some students
go to college apparently for no better reason
tlian because their friends are going or they
can think of notliing else to do Each student
needs to determine, for himself, what he
expects of further education and, in terms
of tins, what he should do Project XI on
Vocations will be of value in helping the
student to determine his best potential areas
of preparation.

Sometimes a student realizes that it is a
waste of time for him to continue in college
but feels that it would be a disgrace to leave
In this case, it is only necessary to point out
that the majority of students who enter col-
lege do not graduate, most of these leave
quite voluntarily One study of the academic
history of freshmen entering a college at
Ohio State University found that only 35
per cent graduated from the same college
they had entered as freshmen, 17 per cent
transferred to other colleges in the university
but all did not graduate, 33 per cent with-
drew voluntarily from the university to turn
to other means of preparation, and 15 per
cent were dismissed “

4 If the analysis of your plans indicates
the need for further college attendance but
you still cannot become interested in your
studies, you may find tlie following discus-
sion helpful It briefly describes some aspects
of the genetic development of interests which
affect college work Some of the points dis-
cussed may give insight into the origin of
your own difficulty.

It IS obvious that people’s interests differ
with their age, a study of these changes
shows that they tend to follow certain defi-
nite sequences Wliile the subject is much
too complex for a thorough discussion here,
five examples aie given of ways in which
interest in schoolwork may increase or de-

D Bennett, Mimeographed report, Ohio
State Univ, 1939.

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT IV

crease with such maturation The student
may see in these examples a basis for his
own or, at least, otliers’ lack of interest in
college work

a Childhood interests tend to center
about immediate ratlier than delayed
goals A penny in tlie hand for candy
IS preferred to a nickel in die bank
toward a pair of roller skates As a
person grows older, he becomes more
aware of the importance of delayed
goals Yet some adolescents, although
highly valuing ultimate school success,
are unable to resist putting off their
studying when other more immediately
interesting activities present tiiem-
selves, I e , going along with friends to
a movie instead of studying for a mid-
term the next day. The mature adult,
however, has the ability to weigh values
m terms of his own future welfare and
can plan his time and direct his ener-
gies accordingly Thus a person may
study because of die future social or
vocational values of the subject It
must be admitted, however, that even
adults find it difficult to make text-
books seem as interesting as attaining
some immediate goal And for die less
mature it is even more difiicult.

One common misconception about
good students needs to be corrected
here, however. Good students have
good times and do not spend their
time 111 dreary drudgery For instance,
fewer good than poor students answer
"yes” to the question “Do your studies
tend to prevent you from parhcipahng
in social activities?” And analysis of the
activities of Phi Beta Kappa students
shows them to belong to and he leaders
in more extracurricular activities than
the average student^*

Newcomer, The Phi Beta Kappa student.
School and Soo , 1927, 25 2^, W R Voorhis and

b Young children seem to be just natu-
rally curious about the nature of things,
but as older students, many become
hesitant about asking questions. Some-
times this IS due to having previously
received too many inadequate answers,
sometimes it is due to a dislike of
admitting a deficiency, and at other
times questions are withheld for fear
they will be interpreted by other stu-
dents as a form of “apple polishing”
Each of these instances is unfortunate,
if any one of them strikes home with
you, it may be well to back up and
give learning about the world a new
try Learning can be funi
c Personal qualities which are tliought
important differ at various age levels
Tins provides a third illustration of a
genetic change which tends to affect
interest in college Physical prowess is
admired by young children During
adolescence, appearance and good fel-
lowship are apt to be weighted heavily
because these traits are considered im-
portant for acceptance by a fraternity
or by the opposite sex Adults also con-
sider the reactions of others to them-
selves as important but are apt to put
it in better perspective Intellectual
competence is given its greatest empha-
sis among adults Tliese trends are
illustrated in Chart 8 which shows the
relative degree to which various traits
are admired at different grade levels
Since a person will work hardest for
what he most values, college courses
may or may not appeal to a student.
For the adult who desires intellectual
competence, college work will seem
vital and interesting, this has recently
been dramatically illustrated by the in-

A C Miller, Influence of college training upon

success after college as measured by judges’ estimates,

J Educ Psych , 1935, 26 377-383

SKILLS IN ATTACK AND CONCENTRATION

tense motivation of many returned war
veterans in college work At the other
end of the distribution are some college
students who are still adolescently en-
grossed m belonging to a group and in
being esteemed for prowess m high-
school-like activities Such individuals
are not ready for college work and will
not find it interesting In between these
two extremes are ranged the rest of tlie
college students That interest m doing
schoolwork is not the strongest motive
in the life of the average student is
illustiated by a study comparing how
hard students will woik for a professor
and for a fraternity^*’ Ten freshmen
fraternity initiates, on the last evening
of a very strenuous “hell week,” were
required to spend about two hours in

L S Hadley, Scholastic adjustment problems
of the returning veterans, Eduo Res Bull, 1945,
24 87-92

F B Knight and H. H Remmers, Fluctuations
in mental production when motivation is the mam
variable, / AppI, Psych , 1923, 7 209-223

working arithmetic problems, they
were told that tlie tests were a part of
their evaluation for admission to the
fraternity Later 54 students working
under noimal classroom conditions
were asked to do the same tasks The
fraternity neophytes, although fatigued
and haiassed, did a third more prob-
lems than tlie group working under
normal classroom conditions
Another interesting illustration of
how differences m motives may in-
fluence studying is shown in the giaclcs
made by social fraternity initiates be-
fore and after initiation and those made
by Phi Beta Kappa candidates under
the same conditions^'' Fraternity and
non-fiatemity freshmen were matched
as to year of matriculation, grade point
average, and hours of credit the first
semester. The grades of these two
groups were then compared through

H C Lehman, Motivation college marks and
the fraternity pledge, / Appl Psych , 1935, 19.9-28

EFFECTR^ STUDY PROTECT IV

successive semesters Chart 9 shows
that after initiation (based on grades
the first semester) die fraternity stu-
dents never again did as well as tlieir
matched colleagues The brohen line
IS inserted as a reasonable guess as to
how well the fraternity students might
have done the first semester had they
not been interested in becoming eligi-
ble for initiation, the difference is
about 2 of a grade point Fraternity m-
itiation standards are thus a useful
stimulus to studying for one semester,
but this experiment also shows that
many college students are in great
part motivated to study for reasons
other tlian interest in knowledge and
preparation for after graduation The
Phi Beta Kappa students, on the other
hand, had no such letdown after initia-
tion. One can more nearly assume for

them an interest in learning for learn-
ing’s sake.

d Although the usual sequence of de-
velopment during adolescence is from
being primarily interested in social ac-
ceptance toward being interested in
working on deferred goals, entrance to
college may temporarily cause a re-
gression in behavior for some students
The average high-school senior has
fiiends and is respected in his com-
munity, he therefore feels secure
enough to go about selecting an oc-
cupation and preparing for it and for
other aspects of his projected adult life
He eagerly looks forward to Ins college
studies But when first away at school
this feeling of social acceptance dis-
appears much to his distress and, if
Ins efforts to make friends and obtain
status are constantly denied, he yearns
for the security of home, 1 e , is home-
sick And little studying will be done
until tins personal problem is settled
Through “ice-breakei” parties and
other informal activities, the college
attempts to help students make friends
quickly Also because of this problem,
it IS expected during the first school
term that freshmen will return home
more often than sophomores in order
to rebuild tins feeling of social security.
In time, friends are made and the
problem is settled

Some students, however, have a dif-
ficult time of it. For instance, if not
bid by a social organization they may
spend all their time worrying and may
even want to leave college They be-
come so emotionally tense about it
that they can’t study, and getting be-
hind in dieir studies only adds to the
tension Or because of their great in-
terest m being accepted they may
emphasize all the methods and be-

SKILLS IN ATTACK i
haviors that made for popularity in
high school, absorption m such ac-
tivities makes them appear more im-
mature in orientation than they were
in high school and certainly is not
conducive to college achievement
Some realization of this psychological
mechanism may help bring about a
more realistic adjustment
A fifth illustration of a genetic change
m interest which affects college work
IS the shift from the desire for parental
praise to a desire to stand on one’s own
feet Opportunity to obtain praise from
adults IS one among many reasons why
young children like school Also while
the child IS in school in the early
grades, the teacher becomes something
of a parent substitute and so the child
will work under authoritarian sugges-
tion But during adolescence, adult
praise becomes less important than
piaise from companions, and there
may even be a reaction against parental
authority as the adolescent tries to be-
come an independent adult Many stu-
dents unconsciously generalize the ob-
ject of their rebellion to include any
form of superiority— teacher, school-
work, rules, and law Tliey feel that
they know as much as adults, hence
they resent suggestions Since they be-
lieve that they are already fully ma-
ture, this stage is characterized by lack
of interest in college work But it is
interesting to note that while sopho-
mores often feel this way, professional
and graduate students rarely do
Adolescents are typically ambivalent,
however, they want to be independent
yet are so used to being told what to
do at home and in school that many
feel lost m college when someone
doesn’t keep after them The writer
recalls one student who announced

CONCENTRATION 75

that he had enrolled in the how-to-
study course because he needed some-
one to get after him now that he was
away from home, college authorities
icfuse to be the “J™ninV Crickets”
for students

The last two examples of genetic changes
m motivation have emphasized difficulties
which sometimes occur when adolescents
change m their attitudes toward persons
Ihcir own age and toward their parents As
indicated, such students may have difficulty
with schoolwork until their immediate prob-
lem IS solved, but other individuals may im-
merse themselves in their schoolwork m
order to forget their troubles Such persons,
however, usually show other signs of im-
maturity and their intense interest in school-
work IS not healthy They need as much
help in making these transitions as do stu-
dents who show other types of over-
compensation

Self-Evaluation

The above discussion gives some notion
of how different motives affect student be-
havioi and of the changes which take place
in tlieir emphasis as a person grows older.
It is difficult to evaluate one’s own pattern
of motives because the average person has
not given much thought to it and wants to
think as well of himself as he can More-
over, motives are so nebulous as to be dif-
ficult to evaluate In fact, it is usually easier
to recognize otliers' motivational patterns
tlian one’s own It will be helpful, however,
to attempt some evaluation Some may dis-
cover that they have been kidding them-
selves with verbalizations about vocational
preparation whereas they really have more
important interests Others may realize that
tliey have been continuing activities based
on earlier interests and are not giving their
present values much consideration

Tire following analyses are easy to com-

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT IV

plete tut difficult to answer frankly Unless
you are candid with yourself, however, they
will be of little value

1 Evaluate youi own interest maturity
in terms of the five sample developmental
sequences listed below, they arc the ones
which were just discussed Look back over
things you used to enjoy or thought were
important, see how much you have grown
Do you have to go back many years before
you can see a change? Compare yourself to
other adults, are you able to see comparable
steps for furthei growth?

SOURCES OF LACK OF INTEREST IN SCHOOL

1 Health condition

2 Distracted by personal problems

3 Not interested in college

a College is not the most suitable source of
training

b Came only because fnends came and
nothing else to do

4 Maturity level of motives

a Immediate goals much stronger tlian de-
layed vocabonal goals
b Curiosity inhibited
c Value other characteristics more than
scholarship and intellectual development
d Upset by lack of friends and chance to
participate in worthwhile group activities
e In process of emancipation from adult
supervision

2 In order to make more concrete a study
of the stiengths and conflicts of motives,
ten situational questions are listed below
Don’t answer them the way you think your
counselor wants you to, or your mother
would want you to, or even the way you
think you ought to The “right” answer to all
tliese questions might well be “yes,” but the
writer has found few undergraduates who
could honestly answer all of them that way,
Tlie value of the “no” answers will be to
suggest how motivational patterns may con-
flict with schoolwork.

MOTIVATIONAL CONFLICTS

Yes No.

Yes No.
Yes No
Yes No

Yes No

Yes No
Yes No,

1 You diseovei at 5 p m that you have no assignments to prepare for the next day but
have a mid-term exam for day after tomorrow A friend wants you to go to a
movie Noimally m such a situation, would you study?

2 A regular two-hour laboratory class is cancelled one day because of difficulty with
plumbing Noimally m such a situation, would you study?

3 When you spend an evening in study, do you spend more than three-fourths of the
time in actual reading and study?

4 A basic but not required course in your major is given only at 8 A M , another course
which IS acceptable in the major but actually not quite ns good for your needs as the
other is avadable at 10 a.m Would you take the 8 o’clock course?

5 Do you spend more tune a week (not countmg Sunday) m studymg than m all tjrpes
of social recreation?

6 You haven't been home for three weeks and there is as much school work for the
conung week end as usual Would you stay on the campus and study?

7. When an mstructoi asks if there are any questions about what he has just piesented,
you do not hesitate to ask about something which you do not undei stand.

8 You would rathei have a grade pomt aveiage 5 of a pomt higher than be elected to
a well-lcnown, semihonoiaiy campus oiganization

9. Twms of your own sex and with pleasing personahties are m your class You would
rather have as a fiiend the one who is outstanding as a student than the one who is
popular with the opposite sex and m activities.

10 Assuming that it took an equal amount of effort and would produce equally successful
results, you would rather wiite for publication a shoit paper in your major field than
manage the campaign of a candidate for president of the student government,

Yes No

SKILLS IN ATTACK AND CONCENTRATION 77

3 “Why do you want to make good as tliey affect your schoolwork This rank
grades^” A list of typical reasons given by order need only be rough and approximate
students is indicated below Winch ones since it is difficult to interpret and weigh
of these most motivate your schoolwork? these values carefully, Wlnle such a rating
Which ones are the least important? Rank device is too unreliable for accurate measure-
these reasons in their older of importance ment, it will tend to stimulate your thinking.

I WANT TO MAKE GOOD GBAJ>E&

To secuze a better future lecoimnendation for a job

To indicate that I am actually learnmg soraethmg new facts, how to thinlc, etc.

To wm out m competition with some other peison or peisons
To please my family

To be eligible for mitiation and student activities

To uphold a reputation alieady gained among my associates and friends

To win special honors and lecognition

Just to meet the requirements foi a degree

To gam the respect of my instructors

It IS a matter of little mteiest to me

If interested in comparing your rating cussion. In the method of paired compan-
to those of other college students, look at son winch was used each statement was
Table 3 winch summarizes the reactions of paired with every oilier statement and the
over five hundred students to this question student chose from each pair the stronger
Tlieir method of rating was more elaborate reason for his schoolwork. The importance
than you were asked to use, therefore tlieir of a reason was then obtained by adding up
ratings have some significance for tins dis- its number of first choices. Table 3 shows

Table 3 The Rank Order from Highest to Lowest of Reasons Given by Different Groups of Students
to the Question “Why Do I Want to Make Good Grades?” «

Reason

Freshman

Junior

and

Semor

Women

Men

Job recommendation (JR)

JR

JR

JR

JR

Evidence of learmng (EL)

EL

EL

EL

EL

Competition (0)

C

PF

PE

G

Please family (PE)

PF

C

R

PF

Be eligible (BE)

BE

R

BE

R

Reputation (R)

R

RI

JG

JG

Win honors (1^)

WH

JG

RI

BE

Just to graduate (JG)

JG

WH

C

WH

Respect of instiuctor (RI)

El

BE

WH

RI

Little interest (LI)

LI

LI

LI

LI

Adapted from 8 C Eriksen, An expeiimental study of mdividual differences in scholastic motives,
J Educ Psych , 1940, SI 507-516

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT IV

the relative importance of these reasons for
freshmen, juniors and seniors, women, and
men The letters in each column refer to
the keyed list of reasons to the left It will
be noted that wanting good grades for “job
recommendation” and for “evidence of
learning” rank first and second for all groups
The changes in relative importance of “be
eligible” and “respect of instructor” be-
tween the freshman and later years may be
partially indicahve of changes in scholastic
motivation with increasing maturity The
differences between men and women are
also interesting

4. The tliree exercises above have been
lithe devices for increasing your insight
into your motivational pattern Little of the
total picture of your motivabonal pattern,
however, has been covered If lack of in-
terest m schoolwork is a real problem with
you, little progress can be made unless there
is a thorough exploration of tlie whole
problem A discussion with your counselor
will be of help Another particularly effective
device is to make an outline summary of
your interests as they relate to college work
This process of verbalizing helps make clear
what your values are Such questions as the
following should be covered Are you in-
terested in college? Why? Are you more
interested m other activities? Do you under-
stand why? What implication does this
discussion of your interests have for your
future plans?

Methods of Focusmg Interest on College

Work

Many students feel that they are quite
interested in their schoolwork but find
it difficult sometimes to settle down to study-
ing The following suggestions are some
devices which will help focus one's interest
in schoolwork on the immediate course or
lesson

1. Since the abstract nature of textbooks

makes it difficult for them to compete in
interest with football schedules, photo-
graphs, or talk sessions, one can study better
if these distractions are eliminated from the
immediate study environment Methods of
doing this were discussed in an earlier part
of this project

2. Students sometimes find that clari-
fication of their vocational aims increases
interest m courses related to their vocational
preparation “ Project XI contains mateiials
for assisting with such vocational thinking
Turn to it now if this approach seems
pertinent

3 Make practical applications of the ma-
tenal you are studying Try to see the rela-
tions between the facts you study and the
problems you will face m your chosen voca-
tion If you are not able to do this, ask your
instructor for assistance in making such ap-
plications All too often students approach
courses as so much memory work rather
than as being full of mteiestmg facts Rote
memonzation is rarely of interest, but under-
standing things is

4 Persons who have had work experi-
ence are usually more highly motivated
Work expenence apparently makes the
vocational goal seem more clear cut and
better understood and, therefore, more im-
mediate Also read all you can about your
chosen vocafaon, it will help to focus your
interests on college work

5 Techniques of imagining more im-
mediate goals assist m focusing interest more
sharply Studying as though there is to be
a quiz in a few minutes may be hard on
your blood pressure but it will arouse your
interest in preparation Setting time limits
for study, as outlined earlier in this project,
gives an immediate goal of completing your

V Marshall, The life career motive and
its effect on college work, / Educ Res, 1935-1936,
29 596-598, E G Williamson, Scholastic motiva-
tion and Uie choice of a vocation. School and Soc.,
1937 ' 4 ^ 353 - 357 -

SKILLS IN ATTACK AND CONCENTRATION

work within the time limit This also helps
resist recreational distractions since you will
soon be through studying and able to relax,

6 The more one knows about a subject
the more interesting the new facts will
seem

7 The story behind the discovery of facts
IS often as interesting as any adventure tale
Unfortunately, the stories get pretty dncd
out by the time they appear in a textbook,
but the library contains books of real in-
terest about the work you are doing Often
this IS the purpose of collateral readings As
a rollicking example, lead the story, “Tuitle
Eggs for Agassiz,” by D D Sharp, which
appeared m the Atlantic Monthly m 1932
(volume 150, pages 537-545)

8 The analysis of errors makes a problem
seem much simpler and therefore easier and
more interesting to overcome Foi instance,
it would seem more interesting and chal-
lenging to improve writing the letters 0
and n which accounted for 50 per cent of
a person’s illegibilities, than it would just to
try, without such a diagnosis, to write more
clearly. Thus, in this and m other courses
find the cause of your difficulties and you
will become more interested

9 Knowledge of progress makes work
seem much more interesting Try to obtain

even rough measures of how well you are
doing and make a graph of your progress.
You will probably be suipiised to find out
how interested you are in making the line
go up Set up a goal on the graph and move
your line toward it as you complete the
units

10. The technique of asking questions,
developed m Project 11 , aiouses curiosity as
you read and so makes the material seem
more intcicstmg Another technique is to
make up pioblems to solve, this will not
only increase your interest but also insure
that you comjirehend the material

Practice Suggestions for improving mo-
tivation will not do much good unless they
arc tried out Take your least interesting
course and, m light of the discussion above,
write out the specific steps which you could
take to increase interest m it. Try this on
an assignment and then check with your
counselor.

Further information as to the factors
which motivate student work will be found
in the following references

C. Bird, Effective Study Habits, Appleton-
Century, 1931, Chap 1

A W Ham and M D Salter, Doctor in the
Making, Lippincott, 1943, Chaps. 2, 3, 4,
and 8 Very interesting reading.

PROJECT V

PREPARING REPORTS

Term papers are a typical part of many
college courses They should he more than
a few pages of quotations copied out and
fitted togetlier, and in the upper-division
courses they are supposed to be rather ex-
tensive treatises Because instructors have
to pass rapidly over many interesting points,
papers and oral reports are assigned so the
student can dig out the information he
wants and also obtain credit for it College
reports are, therefore, real investigations of
interesting topics by inquiring minds Some-
times such papers are good enough to be
published.

The expected make-up of a report varies
somewhat from course to course, but tliree
general characteristics are desired by all
teachers: (a) evidence tliat tire student has
studied different sources in order to stimu-
late his thinking, (b) presentation in an
acceptable form, and (c) evidence of origi-
nal thinking As with most activities, a re-
port may be done the hard way or easy
short cuts may be used. This project pro-
poses to demonstrate these short cuts so
better reports can be written witli no greater
expenditure of effort or time

On the first of these desired character-
istics, i.e, evidence of resources studied,
much energy is often wasted in inefficient
search The writer has found that even in
advanced classes some students work much
harder at a paper than the average student
but get lower grades because they do not
know of the simplest library aids The first
part of this project deals with these library
resources and short cuts

On the second characteristic, i c , correct
form, students arc often bothered as to the
form in which a teim paper should be pre-
sented and are ignorant of any peculiarities
of style expected in a given subject field.
The teachers, on the other hand, expect
the reports to be in good form, i e , the his-
tonans want tiie repoits styled as historical
essays and the scientists as scientific dis-
cussions Facts presented in correct form
receive higher grades than when the same
facts are presented in the usual English
essay form Tire second part of this project
indicates resources giving simple directions
for report writing

On the third cliaiacteristic, i.e., evidence
of original thinking, much depends on the
ability of the student. But if a student finds
it easy to obtain resource material, is stimu-
lated by it and has a plan for writing the
paper, he should have the time and energy
for doing some onginal thinking Some sug-
gestions will also be made which will foster
such originality m papers

A. Use of the Libeary

The primary resource for college work, in
addition to textbooks, is more books Be-
cause of the large number of them which
have to be used, some system of cataloguing
and protection is necessary, yet this very
system is unfamiliar to most students and
so may act as a barrier rather than a help
in the use of the books Acquaintance with
library books is often limited to the reserve
loom where a student's request for an as-
signed book is all tliat is necessary Such

82 EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT V

students do not know of the wealtli of ma-
terial which the school supplies, they do not
know of one of the best and simplest ways
of finding maleiials for term papers, and,
probably worst of all, they miss interesting
books on topics about which tliey are
curious

Concrete evidence that knowledge of the
library is related to school success and that
even the average senior doesn’t know
enough about the library is shown by a study
at Ohio University ^ Tlie expenmenters with
the aid of other faculty members con-

Year in College

Chart lo Success of students on a test of
“beginning worlcmg knowledge in the use of the
library”, the median and the range of scores tor the
middle 50 per cent are shown for each college
year (Adapted from Louttit and Patnek )

M Louttit and J R. Patnek, A study of
students' knowledge in the use of the hbraiy,
I. Appl. Psych,, 1933, 16 475-484.

structed a test of essential information about
the library Its items represented "beginning
of a working knowledge m the use of the
hbraiy” When 441 students took the test,
it was found that knowledge ot the library
was related to grade point average even
when tlie effect of intelligence on both
scores was canceled out The results sum-
marized m Chart 10 also show that the
average student, even among the seniois,
knows only about 60 per cent of these
essenbal items and litde, if any, growth m
knowledge of the library takes place during
the four years m college And the small
rauige in scores between the fiist and third
quartiles indicates that most of the students
are about equally ignorant as to use of the
library It is evident that students need
training in use of the library.

Self-Evaluation

How much do you know about the
library? You may feel that you are pretty
good at It since you are familiar with public
and school libraries Tliree tests arc pro-
vided to measure your skill and also to act as
training units Each has been carefully made
so as to cover tire essential aspects of library
service which every student ought to know
Much more technical and professional aid
can be found in a library but it seems best
to limit these diagnostic tests to minimal
essenbals The fiist test covers infoimatron
as to what is in the library The second test
measures your skill in the actual use of
library aids After scoring these two tests and
studying up on your weak spots, you will be
ready to try your skill on the third test-
preparing a bibliography for an actual term
paper It will show how hbraiy aids can
short-cut tlie wnbng of good term papers.

PREPARING REPORTS

I, Test oi InfoThiatiOR About the Library Tins test covers the important aspects of the
library which the typical student needs to know Tlie test is in foui sections A, Dictionary
Card Catalogue, B, Paits of a book, C, Indices and Abstracts, and D, Plow to Use the
Reader’s Guide The key for scoring your answers is on page 243 in Appendix II
Place your score (No. right) in the correct box below

Norms

Lowest Q 2nd Quartei 3id Quarter Top Quarter

A DICTIONABT CABD CATALOGUE

What will be the alphabetic order of the following title refeiencos in the dictionary caid catalogue?

Indicate the proper ordei by mimbeiing ( 1 , 2, 3, 4, 01 5) on the piopei line to the left.

1 A Manual of Deternnnative Mineralogy (by J V Lewis)

2 Social Organimaiion and Disorganization (by S A Queen)

3 Tlie American College (by A P West)

4 Annotated Bibliogiaphy on Adult Education {hy Y M Pioctor)

. 5 A Syllabus on Vocational Guidance (by V A Teeter)

If a statement is trae, circle "T”, if it is false, cucle “F ’’

TP 6 All classified books are listed m the dictionary caid catalogue

T F 7. The location of a book in the library is indicated by the call number on the dictionary

caid

TPS The airangement of the dictionary caid catalogue is the same as that of boolis on the
shelves

TP 9 A card m the catalogue saying “Robms, see Birds” means that theie is nothing m the
library on robins

T F 10 A student interested in the American Revolution can get started in tracing bibliogiaphy
by lookmg up any of the followmg subject headings m the dictionary card catalogue
American Revolution, Revolution, American, U. S — Histoiy — ^Revolution,

T P 11. A book written by Samuel Clemens should be listed m the dictionary card catalogue
undei the name “Mark Twam” since he is more widely known by that name

T P 12, A book wiitten by Zono and translated by Kiesow would be entered m the caid catalogue
under both names

T P 13 Cross reference (1 e , see, and see also) m the dictionary card catalogue and in periodical
mdices are foi the teclimcal use of the librarian and hence of httle use to the student.

T F 14. Library books assigned by an instructor will usually be found on reserve and will always
be listed m the dictionary caid catalogue

EFFECTIVE STUDY

PROJECT V

the left Write the lettei of

84

Find the best answer m the right-hand column for each statement oi
that answer on the line to the left of each statement

16 The card m the dictionary caid catalogue on which you A
would find listed a book by John Ruslan B.

16 The card m the dictionary card catalogue on which you C.

would find a book called “The Tides of Life.” D

E

17 If you wanted infoimation for a paper on “Indian A
Arrowheads,” what would be the best topic to look up? B

18 If you wanted information for a paper on “The Religious C
Music of Indians, ” what would be the best topic to look D
up’

19 If you wanted information for a paper on “Pocahontas,” E.
what would be the best topic to look up?

F

G

H.

Author card
Index card
Title card
Subject card
Bibliography card

Arrowheads
Bow and Arrow
Indians of North America
Indians of North America —
implements

Indians of North America—
music

Indians of North America —
rehgion and mythology
Music, sacred
Pocahontas

GF51

L4 Leybum, James Graham.

Frontier folkways [byj James G Leyburn . New Haven,
Yale umversity press, London, H Milford, Oxford university
press, 1936
X, 291 p 24^””.

"Published on the Louis Stern memorial fund p pii]

Bibhography p [2731-288

1 Frontier and pioneer bfe 2 Manners and customs 3 Man —
Influence and environment 4 Sociology i Title n Title. Folkways

36-7760

Library of Congress

Copy 2 (_)

Copyright A 81816 [6] [910] 573 4

20 The location of the book in the library is mdicated by (1) the author’s last name, (2) the
number m upper left-hand comer, (3) the title, “Frontier Folkways "
r F 21. The number in the upper left-hand comer is based on the Dewey Decimal system rather
than the Library of Congress system
. 22 The book was published m what year?

T F 23. This book contains a bibhography which could he used for further readmg
. . 24. In how many different places wdl cards for this book appear in the dictionary card catalogue
of the usual hbrary?

T F 25 A card for this book wdl be found if you look up the subject "Sociology.”

T F 26 A card for this book will be found if you look up the subject “Pioneers ”

PREPARING REPORTS

85

B. PAHT3 OF A BOOK

Find the best answer m the right-hand column foi each statement on the left Write the lettei oi
that answer on the line to the left of each statement

27 Pait which gives an outline of what the book contains

28 List of refeiencGS given at the end of a chapter or at the end of a
book,

29 Page on which name of publisher appears

30 Place to look up location of mmor but important topics m the book

31 Section which states why the authoi wiote the book

,32 Part at end of book containing additional mfoimation not m the
text propel

33 Statements in small print at the bottom of some pages

A, Glossary
B Copynght
C Pieface
D Footnote
E Bibliography

F, Title page

G, Index

H Appendix
I Table of contents

0 INDICES AND ABSTRACTS

Followmg are some indices, abstiacts, and other bibliogiaphical sources commonly found in college
libraries.

a Readers' Guide to Penodical Literature
b International Index to Periodicals
c. Agriculture Index
d Art Index
e Education Index
f Industrial Arts Index
g Science Abstracts

li Psychological Abstracts
1 Biological Abstracts

] TJ S Catalogue and Cumulative Booh Index
k New Yoik Tines Index
1 Book Review Digest

m Public Affaiis Information Service Bulletin
n Vertical File Service Catalogue

In answenng the following questions use the list of lefeience works given above Place the letter of
the correct title on the hne at the left of the question

34 The best place to find recent articles on “intelligence testing."

36. Articles on “the teachmg of wood woik m the schools,”

36 Articles for a paper on “mural paintmg ”

37, Articles for a paper on “the divorce problem ”

38 Articles for a paper on “testing cows "

39 Where find the date on which a lecent major event occuiied

. . 40 Where find the publisher and cost of a book not in the hbraiy

... 41 Where find a summary of critical evaluations of a book you have not seen.

If a statement is true, circle “T”, if it is false, circle “F ”

T F 42 Some books contain bibhographies, this mformation is listed on the dictionary card for that
book

r F 43 Bibliographies on some topics are published as separate bulletins, these are hsted in the
dictionary card catalogue.

T F 44 The alphabetical entires m typical periodical mdices are by author and subject although
both are not always included

T F 45 The Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature may enter an aiticle m its alphabetical listing
by author, by subject, and by title

86 EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT V

T E 46. The Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature bsts new books as well as magazine articles
r P 47 The best way to obtain a bibliogiaphy of books fiom the dictionary card catalogue is to
use the title cards

r P 48. Good modem encyclopedias contain well-written articles on many topics assigned for
papers or studied in college classes

D. HOW TO USB THE HBADEBS’ GUHIB AHn OTHER INDICES

Directions The faemg page is an excerpt fiom the Februaiy, 1945, issue of the Readers’ Guide,
line numbers have been added to the left to help m identifying the mateiial to be used in answeriiiK
the questions below. Answei each question in terms of the ime or lines refeired to

T F 49. The magazine reteiied to m line 31 appeals once each month
T P 50 Line 29 means that Thickstun is Blanc’s leal name

T P 51 The magazme m which the story referred to in Ime 28 appears can be found by looking
up M Y Lull

T P 52 The woid “Ams” m Ime 12 refers to a heading which will appear among the “ A’s” in the
alphabetical listmg

53 The numbei which appears before the colon ( ) m each listmg lefers to (1) the year, (2) the
page the aiticle starte on, (3) the volume number of the magazine

54 The number which appears just after the colon ( ) m each listmg refers to (1) page number,
(2) year, (3) volume number

T P 55 The symbol “por” m hne 26 mdicates that a picture of Morgan Blake appears in the
article

T F 56 The symbol “il” m hne 14 means that the article contains illustrations

67 The symbol “ ” in line 18 means that (1) the magazme appears late in December, (2) the

article is paiticularly good, (3) part of the article appeals on later pages m that issue, i e ,
back among the adveitisements

T F 68 If interested m writmg an article on the blind, some additional refoienoes might be found
by lookmg up the headmg “Spoits for the blind ”

T F 69 The phrase “see also” as m Ime 47 means that additional leferences may be listed under
the topic or topics which are listed just below

T F 60 In line 16 one finds that additional mateiial might be found if he looked up either "Avia-
tion” or “Physiological aspects ”

61 How many articles are listed which deal with “Black maikets"?

. 62 How many articles are listed as dealmg with printing and writmg systems foi the blmd?

. 63. In hnes 20 and 21, Earl Blaik is the (1) author, or (2) subject, of the article hsted.

PREPARING REPORTS

EXCEEPT FROM READERS’ GEEJE (EEB 1945)®

1 BLACK markets

2 Beef m tioufale tab Bans W p 17-18 D 23 ’44

3 Bootleg nylons F Brook Bead Digest 46 66-8 F

4 '45

5 Ceiling on hoof? Bans W p 17-18 N 25 ’44

6 Lend fleece, how American Gl’a and officeis have

7 acted as supply agents for French black-market

8 operations Newsweek 25 49 Ja 8 ’45

9 BLACKBIRDS

10 Blackbird antics Nature Mag 37 499 N '44

11 See also

12 Ams

13 BLACKMAN, Thomas M

14 Bare goose, il Natur Hist 63 407 N ’44

15 BLACKOUTS, Physiological See Aviation — Physi-

16 ologioal aspects

17 BLACKSTOCK, Josephine

18 Play in battle diess Ind Woman 23 376-7 -f- D '44

19 BLADES, Hacksaw See Saws

20 BLAIK, Earl Henry

21 Biogiaphy, por Cur Biog Ja '46

22 BLAIR, Walter

23 Ugliest man in the world, story Am Mercury

24 60 166-8 F ’46

25 BLAKE, Morgan

26 Columnist-penologist, por Newsweek 24 46 D

27 18 ’44

28 BLAME It on love, story See Lull, M Y

11 Laboratory Problem in the Use of
Library Aids. Your how-to-study laboratory
IS equipped with various sample library aids
The next step is to see if you can actually
use them correctly The second test has
been prepared especially to fit the local

college situation, when you are ready for it,
ask your counselor for a copy This exercise
will cover the use of tlie dictionary card
catalogue, the Book Review Digest, and
various indices, abstracts, and encyclopedias
If any part causes trouble, the counselor will
be glad to help you

Program for Improvement
1 Did you know how to use the library?
How did you compare to other college stu-
dents? Even though you may have scored
higher on these tests than die average
student, the honor is a dubious one since it
has already been shown that the average
student knows little about the library An
even more realistic goal is to understand
everything in these tests since each item has

29 BLANC, M. S See Thickstun, W R it auth

30 BLANCHARD, Jamce

31 Blind street, poem Christian Cent 61 1228 0

32 25 ’44

33 BLANCHARD, Normal J

34 Making cm tains Sch Aits 44 137 D '44

35 BLEEDERS disease See Hemophilia

36 BLIND

37 Blind are not apart M M Geffner il Survey

38 81 14r-lG Ja ’45

39 Meet destiny with your head up! L Boooelh

40 Etude 02 021 N '44

41 My love is blind Mrs A Schmid Am mag

42 138 45H-D’44

43 Scouts without sight S S Jacobs il Sat Eve Post

44 2 17 6 Ja 13 ’45

46 Strictly iieisonal. It’s fun to see again F F Bond.

46 Sat B Lit 28 14^15 P 3 ’45

47 See also

48 Sports for the blind

49 Pnrtlvng and wrdvng systems

60 Beading for the blind Moon system Hygeia

61 23 140 F ’45

82 BLIND, Boobs for the

63 See also

64 Books — ^Phonograph records

65 BLINDNESS

56 See also

67 Blind

been carefully selected as basic to under
graduate work

Read up on those items which you missed
An interesting booklet entitled the Library
Key and written by Zaidee Brown (Wilson,
1938) explains how to use the materials re-
ferred to in the above tests Tlie following
are other excellent references*

C Alexander, How to Locate Educational
Information and Data, Bur Publ , Teach-
ers College, 1941, 2nd ed See especially
Chaps 4, 7, and lo

M Hutchins, A S Johnson, and M S Wil-
liams, Guide to the Use of Libraries, Wil-
son, 1938, jdi rev ed An excellent book
showing the best resources for different
subject fields

I G Mudge, Guide to Reference Books,
American Library Assoc, 1936, 6th ed.
The authoritative guide to published
reference materials

C M. Wrachell, Reference Books of 1935-
37, ig^8-igsfo; 1941-43, American Li-
brary Assoc TTiree supplements published
to bnng the 6th ed of Guide to Reference
Books up to date

® Used with special permission of the publisheis, The H W Wilson Company

88 EFFECTIVE STUDY PROTECT V

2 . Study a map of your library so as to
familiarize yourself with tlie locabon of re-
sources, particularly the card catalogue, in-
dices, and general references Take bme
to browse in the reference section so as ac-
tually to see where these resources are
located

3 When these two steps are done, and
only then, try the following “real library

project.” It tests your ability to use your
knowledge of the library in preparing for
an actual term paper To try this project
before completely understanding the library
setup will result only in confusion and
waste of time On the other hand, if you
are familiar with the basic uses of libraries,
this part of the project will be quite
easy

III. Term Paper Library PTO]ect Parts A, B, and C can be filled out m class, Part D has
to be done at the library Do this project on your own, do not bother the librarians. If you
need help, ask your counselor or other students (if you feel they know the answer) .

Evaluation . . ....

A. Select a term paper topic in an area in which you are interested (If you have a paper to write in
some course this term or if you know of a topic which can be used m a later course, use that topic )
The topic IS

B Under what headings would you expect to find references to articles and books dealing with your
topic?

1 . ... . . 2 . . ..

3. . . 4.

6 . . . . 6 .

0. What reference sources would it be best to use’ (When this section is filled out, star the three
resources which will probably be of the most value for this topic )

1 What index or abstract journals?

2. Will the dictionary card catalogue be of much help?

3. Will an encyclopedia be of much help? If so, which one?

4. Will you have special problems of biographical data, current events, statistical data, smaU
items of necessary mformation’ If so, where should you look?

PREPARING REPORTS 89

D, List below at least ten references for your topic Use the three sources “starred” above and more
if you wish, include books as well as journal articles Do not list just any references on your topic, be
selective so as to list a well-rounded selection of the best sources

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT V

B. Writing the Paper ^ If you have the opportunity, look over

An early and major step has already been
taken toward writing a report through com-
pleting the library projects above, you have
a complete bibhogiaphy, or at least a good
start on it, for a term paper Writing the
paper itself, however, also presents difficul-
ties for many students Some find it difficult
to express their ideas in writing, some have
to labor so hard over grammar and punctua-
tion that little energy is left for creative
writing Others have trouble with organizing
their ideas and others with the format ex-
pected on a term paper Appioaches to these
difficulties are discussed here.

some term papers that have received good
grades In what ways do they differ from
yours?

Self-Evaluation

About the only way to measure your skill
and difficulties in writing term papers is
actually to analyze some you have written.
The following will give a basis for determin-
ing where remedial work is needed

1 . What grades have you received on
past term papers? What comments were
written on them?

3. Have your counselor look over some
of your former papers and make suggestions
as to specific ways in which they might be
improved Old essay exams also offer a basis
for constructive suggestions on writing.
Primary areas of diEculty should be checked
below

. Legibility
Spelling
Grammar
Punctuation
. Capitalization

Sentence structure
. . Specific errors m format

. General form

... .Length
. Bibliography

. . . Headings

.... Paragraphing

... .Organization
Development of ideas

PREPARING REPORTS 91

Progiam for Improvement

With what aspects of term paper writing
do you have the most difficulty? Suggestions
for improvement are presented in three
sections English usage, form, and organiza-
tion and writing of the paper Emphasize
those sections which are the most pertinent
and then complete step 4

1. If one of your difficulties lies in cor-
rectness of written expression, turn to
Project VIII Most persons with this dif-
ficulty have seen comments like “poor Eng-
lish” or “poor spelling” written so often on
their papers that they feel they never will
become proficient Project VIII will show,
however, that college students having such
difficulties really know most of the rules of
English usage but have trouble with just a
few frequently recurring items When a stu-
dent sees that two or tiiree simple rules ac-
count for ovei half of his errors, a remedial
program seems easy and feasible

2 Other students have difficulty in de-
ciding what the correct form is for a term
paper Details as to length, expected di-
visions, use of headings, bibliographical
form, use and form of quotations, use of
footnotes, etc , all cause confusion and make
it difficult to devote full energy to express-
ing one’s ideas An easy way to help with
this difficulty IS to study a model term
paper and then lefer to it as problems of
form arise One of the best sources here
IS a model term paper which itself tells
how to write a term paper The reference

IS

C S Cooper and E J Robins, The Terai
Paper, a Manual and Model, Stanford
Univ Press, 1934

Since the form of term papers sometimes
varies from one subject field to another,
one should also find out what requirements
tlie instructor has m mind and, if available,
look over former term papers in that course

Further references on writing term papers
will be found in the following:

R W Fredenck, How to Study Handbook,
Appleton-Century, 1938 Pages 173-180
How to gather materials for a topic, pages
181-200 How to write themes

J C Hodges, Harbrace Handbook of Eng-.
Iish, Harcourt, Brace, 1941 Pages 376-
396 Includes a specimen term paper.

3 The major difficulty for some students
lies in organizing a term paper. They
scarcely know where to begin or end, tlrus
some just start wntmg, keep on adding tins
and that, and stop when the paper seems
long enough Since a job plan helps in ex-
pediting any type of work, the following
plan should do much to make your approach
to writing a term paper easier and more
systematic-

a Select a topic. It should be big enough
to provide plenty of material for
wnting but not so big as to be suitable
for a book. Look up several tentative
topics in an index such as the Readers’
Guide and select the one that has the
best available bibliography

b Build your bibliography As suggested
in the first of this project, use indices,
abstracts, the dictionary card catalogue,
encyclopedias, etc, to obtain a select
bibliography Read these for ideas.
Keep notes on your readings so that
later they can be referred to, making
unnecessary a return trip to the library
If tliese notes are kept on cards, they
can later be put in some topical order
and thus aid in tlie organization of
wnbng.

c Keep an idea page A paper is usually
assigned for some time before it has to
be written During tins interval various
ideas often come to mind which ought
to be included in tlie paper If these
are not jotted down at once, they are
often forgotten by the time you start

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT V

on the paper Use a page in your note-
book to )ot down these ideas; then
when you are ready to wnte, these brief
notes will serve as reminders Instances
of things to ]ot down are news events
and stories which illustrate your points,
and also new angles on your paper
which occur to you A premium is
placed on originality m a paper so this
device will do much to increase the
quality of your paper.

d Outline your paper in detail In writing
essay examinations it was suggested
that jotting down a brief outline before
starting to write would produce a bet-
ter answer This is even more true in
writing term papers because the wealth
of material to be covered makes it im-
possible to organize as one writes This
outline should be very complete, each
idea to be covered should be men-
tioned in the outline. Use cue words
and phrases and not complete sen-
tences, as rearrangement seems neces-
sary scratch out items and wnte them
in at better locations. Finally, when
the outline is completed, the organiza-
tion of the paper stands out clearly.
The major points in the outline repre-
sent the headings for sections of your
paper With each point in its place
m the outline, the job of writing
merely requires that each point in turn
be changed into a sentence or short
paragraph

e Write the paper, dash it off from the
outline and polish it later It is difficult
to keep many things m mind as you
write. Devote your initial wrihng efforts
to getting your ideas stated, tliis initial
draft can be gone over later in order to

correct English mistakes and to put in
headings, references, and footnotes
Dashing this first version off helps a
writer keep his attention on his theme
rather than getting lost in details, and
the sentence ideas tend to flow into
each other much better Usually all
needed corrections can be inserted in
this first draft, but if necessary, parts
can be cut out and pasted in order
f Type or rewrite the paper Legibility
and good form in a paper have a great
deal to do with the final grade As was
indicated in connection with writing
essay examinations, papers legibly writ-
ten will average lo per cent higher
grades than the same papers written
somewhat illegibly Reread this final
version to be sure that a word or phrase
has not been accidentally left out and
to correct misspellings or illegibilities,
g. Submit the paper in an attractive form
since the over-all impression also in-
fluences tlie instructor. Put the paper
m a binder Put the title, your name
and the course number or name on the
front Number the pages And the
most attractive feature of all, hand the
paper in on time.

4. Do you have any papers to write tliis
term? If so, the material on library usage
earlier in this project will have given you a
start. Discuss your plans for tliis paper with
your counselor, he will be glad to assist in
evaluating your outline and written report
The instructor who assigned the paper and
your English instructor will also be glad to
answer any questions you may have Very
often papers for your English course and for
other courses can be combined.

PROJECT VI

CLASSROOM SKILLS

Because students learn through class par-
ticipation and their work is evaluated from
it as well, it IS important that effective class-
room skills be developed Students, however,
frequently feel inadequate in these skills.
Many students are afraid to recite in class
and are even more terrified of volunteenng
in discussion or of asking questions Most
students have difficulty in determining what
should he learned in a lecture, and know no
good way to remember what they do learn.
Some students wnte as rapidly as they can
to record what is said, but because of such
a secretarial attitude scarcely understand
what they have wntten, others write noth-

ing Still other difficulties arise because some
students do not understand that certain
classroom mannensms and practices offend
the teacher and so react to the student’s
detriment Principles relating to these prob-
lems will be presented under four headings’

(1) Improving Ability to Handle Lectures,

(2) Improving Ability to Discuss and Re-
cite in Class, (3) Improving Class Manners,
and (4) Having Conferences with the
Teacher As a preliminary step, however,
answer the following questions in terms of
your present classroom practices; items
missed will help point up the discussion
which follows.

94

EFFECTIVE STUDY

PROJECT VI

Evaluation of Classroom Behavior No right out of 18

Answer each of the following questions by wntmg in the word (or its number) (1) never, (2) sel-
dom, (3) sometimes, (4) often, or (6) always

1 Do you take notes on your lecture classes?

2 Do you keep your notes in one notebook at least 6X9 mches m size?

3 Do you recopy your notes after takmg them in a lecture?

4 Do you write as fast and as much as you can durmg a lecture?

5 Do you use shorthand m takmg notes?

6 Do you look over and edit your notes after class?

7 Do you sit near the back of the classioom oi near a door or wmdow?

8 Do you participate when there is classroom discussion?

9 Do you feel nervous and afiaid when you have to participate m class discussion?

10 When you don’t understand something that has been explamed m class, do you ask ques-
tions when given the oppoitumty?

11 When the instructor calls for volunteers, do you offer yourself?

12 When leviewing foi a quiz, do you tiy to predict from your class notes what will be asked'’

13 When having trouble m a course, do you try to talk to the instructor after class or to have
a conference with him?

, 14 Do you cut classes durmg a school term?

16 Are you late to class?

. . 16 Do you stack your books or put your coat on just before the bell rings?

17 Do you whisper to other students while the teacher is lecturmg or leading a discussion?

18 Do you hand in term reports and other papers on or before the due date?

The questions whose numbers are fol-
lowed by a period should be answered
'"often” or “always” and those without
periods should be answered “seldom” or
"never” The reasons behind these answers
are presented in the folloiving discussion

fmproving Ability to Handle Lectures
The first thing is to sit where you can
easily hear the lecture. Many students gravi-
tate toward the back of the class or sit next
to a door or beside a window In all three
of diese places students are subject to many
distractions Students at the back of the
room have to look past all die other students

in order to watch the instructor, their at-
tention IS constandy distracted from the
lecturer as these intervening students squirm
in their seats, whisper, or drop things Stu-
dents sitting by a door or window are also
distracted by occurrences outside the class-
room. Studies of students' preferences as
to seat location and of the relationship be-
tween classroom position and grades show
an advantage for the center of the room,
toward the front ^ Also sit where material on
die blackboard can be easily seen and, if you

R Farnsworth, Seat preference in the class
room, J Soc Psych , 1933, 4 373-376, C R Gnf
fith, A comment upon the psychology of the an
drcnce. Psych Monog, 1921, 30 36-47

CLASSROOM SKILLS 95

have difficulty in hearing, sit where you can
hear better and watch the speaker’s lips

Students have as much difficulty with
picking out what is important and re-
membering It in lectures as in reading® A
basis for the solution of tins problem can be
found through appreciating the three pur-
poses of lectures (1) to present matenal
not otherwise easily available to students,
(2) to explain important points which
might cause difficulty, and (3) to elaborate
on important points through further ma-
terial and explanation Since a teacher’s class
time IS limited, great selectivity must be
used m determining what is to be discussed
Whatever is said m class should, tlierefore,
be important But students say, “Not witli
the teachers I’ve heardi’’ But even these
teachers would affirm that important points
were being illustrated So the crux of the
problem in learning how to listen to lectures
IS How can one determine what is im-
portant and how can one remember iP

This sounds familiarly like the problem
in reading textbooks Both textbook wiiters
and lecturers tiy to make only a few major
points m a chapter or lecture but have to use
a great deal of explanatory detail in order
to make these major points clear Tire prob-
lem IS to learn how to spot these major
points Lectures usually contain fewer cues
than textbooks and, being extemporaneously
presented, the cues are not nearly so clearly
emphasized And even though such organi-
zational cues as inflection, topic sentences,
and summary statements may be skillfully
presented, the average student is not trained
to spot them Just as most students pay
little attention to headings m books, so most
students know little about typical cues used
in lecturing To begin with, the average

“ R P Larsen and D D Feder, Common and
differential factors m reading and heanng compre-
hension, / Edac Psych , 1940, 31 341-252, E M
Spencer, Retention of orally presented materials,
/ Educ Psych , 1941, 32 641-655

student usually has a mistaken notion as to
how much is covered in a lecture He usually
thinks that “lots and lots” of points are
covered whereas actually they will range
from a couple of major ideas to half a dozen
minor ones It is the old story of the little
boy overwhelmed at the number of trees
rather than seeing them as an orchard ar-
ranged m rows with these rows arranged
by species of fruit

Students usually go to one of two ex-
tremes in approaching this problem, both
are bad Some students, feeling that every-
thing said IS impoitant, write madly trying
to put everything down, those who know
shorthand feel happily prepared These per-
sons are so busy m a stenographic way, how-
ever, that they scarcely understand a thing
that is said Tliey may feel that they can
study their notes later, but this is seldom
done and if done represents double labor.
At the other extreme are those students who
say that it is impossible to both listen and
write and anyway it is difficult to know what
to wnte They feel that the best approach is
to listen and watch carefully so as not to
miss anything, note-taking would therefore
be a distraction These individuals may
understand tire lecture as it is being pre-
sented but they usually do not isolate tlie
mam points and have no basis for later
review.

In lectures, as with textbooks, the core
ideas are important A student needs to iso-
late these core ideas and to see the explana-
tory material as such This is done by watch-
ing for cues whidi the lecturer gives A
lecturer usually starts with a topic sentence,
and he may close a topic with a summary
statement He usually indicates the number
of important subpoints by such cue state-
ments as “the three parts,” “the five results,”
etc Lecturers may use inflection of voice to
make a point stand out, they often repeat
important points or pause significantly or

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT VI

even precede a statement by saying, “This
next point is important” A student then
should listen attentively and, through such
cues as the above, try to determine what
mam point is being developed Wlien this is
decided, he should wiite down a brief note
summarizing the point He then listens
again until the next point is made, etc By
the end of a class hour possibly not more
than a half page of notes will have been
taken Tire writing will not have been laboii-
ous and the several statements written will
be very helpful later for review

Insofar as possible, try to show organiza-
tion in your notes Label them as to major
topic, and indent subpoints so that the
major ones stand out Since it is sometimes
difficult to determine the exact organization
as tlie lecturer proceeds, it is worth while
to take a couple of minutes at the end of tlie
class, or that evening, to glance over tlie
class notes so as to mark important points,
indent subpoints, etc In such revising, it
may also become obvious that in your haste
too little has been written, therefore add
further clarifying statements Typing class
notes, on the other hand, is generally a waste
of time That is, typing is hard work for
most students and legibly written notes will
do just as well.

Notes which show organization make
major points stand out and are more easily
visualized in memory In order to make in-
dentations which enhance this visual pat-
tern, it is necessary to have a large notebook;
such larger paper costs little more than the
smaller size Furthermore, the ideas from
one or several lectures can be put on one
large page so their relationship can be more
easily seen. Little notebooks are cute and
easy to carry but are inefficient for class
notes. And probably worst of all is the use
of backs of envelopes and odd sheets of
paper for note-taking, these are difficult to
organize and keep collected.

As was true with notes on readings
(Project II), an outsider’s evaluation and
coaching often quickly suggest worth-while
ways to Simplify and improve classroom
note-taking. Have your counselor check your
notes against the Check List in Project II,
then try to improve your technique of taking
notes Successive ratings with this Check
List should show improvement m your
notes, and lectures should begin to have
more organization for you

Improving Ability to Discuss and Recite in

Class

Practically every teacher spends some
time in class discussion and student recita-
tion, some teachers devote most of their
class time to it. There are seveial reasons for
this The give and take of discussion in-
creases student interest and emphasizes
understanding rather than memorization of
ideas Recitation, as was shown in Project
II, tends to fix ideas in memory so they are
forgotten less rapidly, class discussion plays
the same role And through listening to
questions and ideas presented, the teacher
can evaluate what students know The fol-
lowing two experiments give an indication
of how important discussion is in school-
work- In one, an accurate count was kept
of how many times each student partici-
pated in classroom recitation and discussion,
this score, as well as the student’s intel-
ligence, was then compared to the grades
each received at the end of the school year.®
It was found that “test grades were in-
fluenced more by the activity of a child than
by his intelligence” Of course, it may be
assumed that the students who knew the
most might tend to recite the most, but this
IS not the complete explanation In another
study, college students were measured in

®W W Carpenter and M K Fort, What effect
do viators have upon recitation? /. Educ Res,

1930, 23 50-53

CLASSROOM SKILLS

their ability to influence each other in dis-
cussion When this ability of students was
compared to their success in class, it was
found that “students able to influence their
classmates most in discussion situations were
also able to influence their teachers most
favorably and get the highest marks”
{r= 38)

Yet fear of reciting or discussing in class
IS one of the most frequent problems men-
tioned by students In a check list of 90
items in which students were to rate how
they compared to other students in their
class, more students put themselves in the
bottom fifth on the item “speak up in class
discussion” than on any other item® An-
other indication of this same problem is
obtained from the use of a “Guess Who”
test In this type of test a descriptive state-
ment is read and the students guess who in

97

the class it best describes When the item
“this IS the student who is most afraid to
discuss in class” is read, more students men-
tion themselves tlian on any other iterai
Why are students afraid to participate in
class discussion? A large number of college
students, when asked to analyze why it was
difficult to obtain discussion m class, listed
25 different causes ranging from teaching
procedures to student attitudes® Among
the most important were the four student at-
titudes listed in Table 4 Characteristic of
all these student attitudes is a fear of ap-
pearing inferior to others Tins fear is not
simply limited to what the teacher ma;^
think because fear of what classmates may
think IS probably an even greater deterrent.
For instance many students are willing to
ask questions after class but not before
their classmates.

Tabm 4 Student Attitudes Which Inhibit Student Questioning in Class (Adapted from Earkendall )

These Attitudes Affect Recitation Seldom Sometimes Frequently Very
or never often

1 Students fear ridicule 2% 19% 46% 38%

2 Lack of preparation 2% 8% S8% 52%

3 Dislike to expose ignorance 1% 16% 41% 42%

4 Timidity — 14% 44% 42%

Analysis of class discussions tends to in-
dicate that students fall into three types'

(1) the “off-the-beam” or “disturber” type,

(2) the quiet unknown, and (3) the leader.
Fear of being classed in the first of these
categories inhibits many students, unluckily
they then fall into the second class, un-
known to teacher or students Evidence of
these student types is obtained through use
of a “Guess AWio” test which contains a

^ R H Simpson, Those who influence and those
who are influenced in discussion, Teach Coll.
Coiitri Educ , 1938, No 748, 89 pp
®J A Wnght, A study of high school students’
insight into their problems and resources, unpub-
lished Master’s diesis, Ohio State Umv., 1944

series of items ranging from “this student
can’t say what he means” or “tins student
seems most tiimd in class discussions” to
“tins student’s discussion is interesting and
to the point” or “this student is easily heard
and understood.” Tlie test is scored in two
ways (i) the total number of times each
student’s name is mentioned and (2) the
number of times each student's name is
mentioned on favorable items minus the
number of times it is mentioned for un-
favorable items. The results from administer-
ing such a test to two small classes are sum-

®L A Kirkendall, Factors inhibiting pupil ques-
tiomng in class, / Educ Metli, 1937, 16:359-362,

98 EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT VI

marized m Chart ii. It will be noted liiat
the distribution falls into a V shape At
the left are the individuals who received
many but almost entirely negative votes. In
the middle are those whom scarcely anyone
remembered in thinking about the class, it
IS surprising to note how many “non en-
tities” can exist even in small classes And
at the right are the accepted leaders of the
groups.

What then can be done to help students
participate in discussions? The primary dif-
ficulty to overcome is the fear itself The
procedures suggested below seek to give the
student a feeling of assurance so he will
venture a comment in class Once started,
most students have little difficulty thereafter

1. Since it is obvious from the above re-
sults that most students feel themselves less
able tlian others to speak up in class and
secretly admire those who do, theie is good
reason to try it Wlien a student realizes
that other students are not the critical
judges he thought, it is less difficult to talk

2 Since most instructors foUow their
textbooks rather closely, one can usually pre-
dict what will be discussed in class Prepare

yourself on a few items which will surely
come up, then seize the opportunity to re-
cite when these topics appear

3 When class discussion emphasizes an
exploration of points of view on some issue,
hazard your own opinion Such discussions
move forward only as there can be dif-
ferences of opinion to clarify the point at
issue In such a situation your opinion is
probably as good as the next person’s The
previously mentioned study on student in-
fluence on others also showed that students
with definite opinions influence others
more than those who aren’t sure and, of
course, more than those who don’t speak up.

4 A good way to read is to apply what
you are studying to different practical situa-
tions. A good form of class participation is
to suggest such applications and if you can’t
think of any, ask how such material might
apply in a given situation. An instructor is
pleased to find students thinking rather than
memorizing m a course.

5 Start participating m class discussion
early m the school term. At that time the
class IS not yet organized so that even ques-
tions which are beside the point are ac-

CLASSROOM SKILLS

ceptable And once started in a class, most
students have little difficulty thereafter

6 Wlien something is not understood,
ask questions Instructors know that stu-
dents don’t understand everylliing in their
lessons and many of them ask from time to
time if there are any questions m order to
clarify issues before they are included m
tests If the instructor doesn’t ask for ques-
tions, he will usually be happy to help out-
side of class

7 A maxim m army life is "don't volun-
teeri” An equally impoitant maxim m col-
lege life, when a teacher asks for persons to
work on special projects, is “volunteei”'
When special projects are used in a class, it
is usually planned so that all students wiU
eventually have something to do Those
who volunteer early impress the teacher
with their interest m the work, moreover,
early acquaintance with the instructor actu-
ally does much to liven the work during the
rest of the terra

As indicated earlier, the mam problem is
getting started An analogy to the treatment
of stuttering may be helpful here Stutterers’
emotional fear of stuttering, especially m
social situations, increases their tension so
they are even more apt to stutter One as-
pect of treatment is to get them used to

speaking in strange situations, many such
experiences tend to reduce this emotional
tension and so decrease the tendency to
stutter They also have trouble getting
started, so some clinics send the stutterer
out with a slip of papei and tell him not to
come back until he has talked to someone
and had the paper signed indicating this
fact Such drastic treatment need not be
used on you, but a first step is to resolve to
discuss in some dass today “if it kills you ”

Improving Class Manners
One approach to “how to win grades and
influence teachers” is to be considerate in
class This does not mean excessive polite-
ness but just common courtesy Just as rules
of etiquette make it easier to be comfortable
and get things done at dinners and social
gatherings, so the following simple rules of
behavior m the classroom make it easier
for students and teacher Teachers work
hard and tend to become irritated by stu-
dents who constantly violate these rules
1 Don’t cut classes The absent student
misses part of his instruction and teachers
occasionally react negatively toward chronic
cutters While number of absences is not
highly related to grades, the data shown in
Chart 12 indicate for a large number of stu-

EFFECl'IVE STUDY PROJECT VI

dents in a midwestern university that per-
sons earning low grade point averages tend
to cut much more than most students ’ And
not only are much cutting and low grades
associated but there is a linear relationship
all the way down Merely attendmg class
every day will not insure a B average, but
conversely it can be said that cutting fre-
quently may make it difficult to get

2. Be on time' Some people have dif-
ficulty getting to class on time Sometimes
tins is due to the preceding class being too
far away, if so, be sure to tell your instructoi
Others find it hard to get places on time,
as for instance to an eight o’clock In one
study, a record was kept of what time stu-
dents arrived at their eight o'clock classes
Wlien the grade point average of students
who were on tune or even early was com-
pared to the average of those who were
late, it was found that “tlie early students
had a grade of B, whereas the late students
had a grade of G plus”® Tire following

Jones, Class attendance and college marks.
School and Soc, 193:, 33 444-446
® G J Dudycha, An objective study of punctual-
ity m relation to personality and achievement. Arch
Psych , 1936, No. 204, 53 pp., also C L Nemzek,

chart shows the typical distribution of time
of arnval at class, most students come a few
minutes early, but a minority straggle in for
some tune after the bell rings. They are a
distraction to the class and to the instructor'

3. Carry your share in class On a hike
you wouldn’t let someone else carry your
pack In class don’t take the attitude ot
daring the instructor to try to interest you
When llie instructor states an issue for dis-
cussion, don’t “let George do it” but take
some responsibility for moving the discus-
sion along The quicker it is discussed, the
quicker the class can move on

4. Classes, like many activities, sometimes
get boring, but you should not show it It is
all nght to look at your watch, but only
occasionally, and don't check to see if it is
running Don’t stack books and put your
wraps on before the bell rings because the
commotion will disturb the rest of the class
A coach would jerk a player who started
easing up before the game was over, an in-
structor resents students who can’t "take

The value of amount of tardiness and absence for
direct and differential prediction of academic suc-
cess, J Eiper Educ, 1938, 7 4-10

CLASSROOM SKILLS loi

it" for 50 minutes Don’t whisper to others 2 If a conference has to be arranged at

in a lecture class, whispered comments are
interesting to those about and so distract
them from attending to the lecture If you
have ever talked to someone who continu-
ally looks about as if his mind is on other
things, you know how instructors sometimes
feel m class

5 Get reports in on time or earlier Most
students put off writing reports until the
last minute if not until a couple of days after
that But a theme takes no longer to wiite
on time than later Teachers appreciate get-
ting repoits on time, or even early, because
they plan their work to handle tliese papers.
Since a late paper means a sjjccial session
of grading, the irritation is usually sufficient
to cause a lower grade to be given.

Having Conferences with the Teacher

Many students feel that an instructor will
think they are “apple polishing" if they ask
for a conference Actually most instructors
enjoy the opportunity to work with and
know their students individually Part of
their college job is to hold conferences witli
students from their classes Certain courte-
sies are helpful, however

1. If the instructor has time, questions
can be asked before or after class This in-
formal opportunity makes it easy to have
conferences without much effort.

another time, make an appointment with
the instructor and then be sure to keep it
It may be acceptable to “stand up” other
students, but teachers’ schedules are too full
to be used up by missed appointments.

3 Questions can be asked m several ways,
some more effective than others In discuss-
ing a quiz, it isn’t as effective to ask “How
come you marked me off?” as “What type
of material should I have included?” Tlie
latter will usually bnng a sympathetic ap-
proach to your problem.

Tins project has emphasized four aspects
of improving classroom skills and in each
case has suggested methods of overcoming
any difficulties You should make a definite
attempt then to do each of these things

1. Take notes on lectures and have tlrem
evaluated according to the chart in
Project II

2 Make a definite effort to start par-
ticipating in classroom discussions, sugges-
tions were made to help you get started.

3 Notice what things students do in
your classes which distract other students
from the lecture or discussion, then make
a definite effort to improve your own class-
room manners

4. If you aie having trouble in any of
your courses, have a conference with tlie
instructor.

EDUCATIONAL DEFICIENCIES AFFECTING SCHOOLWORK

Deficiencies in the three R’s affect the success
of many students in college' For instance, tests
show that some college freshmen read no bet-
ter than the average fourth-grader, that some
cannot do a single problem in long division,
and that some cannot recognize pronouns in
a sentence Difficulties such^ as these prevent
otherwise capable students from completing
their lessons, from doing physics problems cor-
rectly, or from translating a foieign language
easily

Studies have shown that these difficulties
are often limited to a few specific errors or bad
habits and that, with individualized help, quite
astounding gams can be made For instance,

rate of reading can be doubled, improving the
wnting of foul letters will account for over 50
per cent of legibility difficulties, and learning
a few specific constructions or words will
ehminate a large percentage of grammatical
or spelling errors

With tins in mind, it is proposed to make a
survey of your basic skills (you have already
completed some of the tests) in order to deter-
mine in which areas, if any, you need par-
ticular assistance Because many of these tests
are quite long in order to provide adequate
diagnosis, most of the tests foi Part Two are
grouped together m Appendix I Page refer-
ences are made to these tests as they are needed,

PROJECT VII

READmG ABILITY

Because of the great emphasis placed on
long assignments m textbooks and reference
books, reading ability is an important de-
terminer of school success ^ For this reason,
higher-level skills in reading were discussed
at length m Projects II and III But some
students are prevented from making full use
of such higher-level skills because of de-
ficiencies in certain aspects of basic reading
skill, 1 e , word-by-word reading, poor habits
of comprehension accuracy, inadequate vo-
cabularies, or inability to read graphs and
tables When deficient or lacking m such
abilities, a student is like a machine with
a bent wheel, he can operate only at reduced
speed and with much waste of energy Tlie
present project is devoted to tlie diagnosis
and treatment of deficiencies in these as-
pects of reading skill Tests for self-evalua-
tion are included in this project and m Ap-
pendix I so that you can determine which
sections will be of most interest

General Characteristics of Reading
A discussion of three general character-
istics of reading provides a basis for under-
standing the diagnostic sections into which
this project is divided
1. Various experiments show that there
are many reading abilities, not just one. A

H Anderson and W F Dearborn, Reading
ability as related to college achievement, J Psych ,
1941, 11 387-396, M E Broom, A note on silent
reading comprehension and success in academic
achievement in a state teachers college, / Appl
Psych , 1934, 18 561-565

person who is expert at reading fiction may
not be proficient at reading non-fiction for
information Since student lessons deal pri-
marily widi die latter, reading non-fiction
IS emphasized here Skill m leading dif-
ferent types of non-fiction may also vary
because of differences in vocabulary, style of
writing, and what is wanted from die selec-
tion It IS important, therefore, that reading
diagnosis be carried out on textbooMike ma-
teiials, eg, non-fiction assignments which
include graphs and tables and which are fol-
lowed by quizzes

2. Students show different levels of read-
ing skill which vary not only quantitatively,
as in rate, but also qualitatively. Four such
levels are heie described ^

(a) The most inefficient level is word-
by-word reading Here the reader
goes at an exceedingly slow rate and
makes little, if any, adjustment to
the difficulty of the reading material
For instance, in one experiment with
such readers in college it was found
that they read a selection from an
easy elementary-school reader at the
same rate as one from a difficult
graduate textbook® Such students
usually have high enough intel-
ligence and vocabulary, their diffi-
culty seems to he in a carry-over from

®F. P Robinson and Prudence Hall, Studies of
higher-level reading abilities, J Educ Psych , 1941,
32 241-252.

® I H. Anderson, Studies in the eye movements
of good and poor readers. Psych Monog , 1937, 48,
1-35

io6 EFFECTIVE STUDi PROJECT VII

oral reading of certain perceptual-
motor habits of perceiving one word
at a time* Students reading at this
level present a special problem in
rate training

(b) Most students are at the second level
of reading shill — flexible adjustment
of rate to changes in difficulty and
purpose The nature of this skill is
well illustrated by the bottom three
lines in Chart 14 They show diat

Chart 14 Change m rate of reading dif-
ferent subject matters during three successive
three-minute intervals (From Robinson and
Hall,)

students' rate of reading over 9
minutes was adjusted to differences
in difficulty in the three selections
Further, it shows that these readers
start out at a good rate but gradually
adjust their rate to the difficulty of
the text, word-by-word readers, on

* F P Robinson, The role of eye riiovements in
reading, Univ Iowa Studies, 1933, No 39, Ja pp

the other hand, make no such ad-
justment and read straight along at
the same rate The dip in the
"geology” line is a further example
of rate adjustment, in this case to a
difficult table in the text Not all
readers have to slow down in this
way on these selections, foi instance,
students who have a background of
training in art can read the Art
Reading Test straight along withorit
slowing down So one appioach to
remedial work is to increase a stu-
dent’s background of information,
le, vocabulary and information in
his subject fields A second approach
is to piovide training in higher-level
reading skills such as are described
in the next two levels

(c) The dnrd level is the use of the con-
text of a story to piecomprehend
what IS coming The "fiction" line
in Chart 14 illustrates this This
fiction story is easy to comprehend
so about half of readers read straight
along at the same rate for the whole
nine minutes; other students on
catching on to the story, however,
use their ability to halfway guess
what IS going to happen to speed
up their later comprehension Such
precomprehension is very useful in
readmg

(d) The fourth and highest level reading
skill IS the ability to benefit from
typographical and writing cues in the
text, die Survey Q3R Method is an
example of such a skill.

Such an analysis shows the need
for diagnosis of special disabilities in
rate and of factors which affect com-
prehension ability The use of con-
text and typographical clues has
already been discussed under the
Survey Q3R Method

READING

3 The third aspect of reading to be re-
viewed IS an analysis of the basic factors
which determine reading ability These fac-
tors are well shown in an expenment m
which 100 college students took 25 dif-
ferent reading and other types of tests ' The
results on each test were correlated with
every other test and these several hundred

E Hall and F P Robinson, An analybc
approach to the study of reading skills, J Educ
Psych 1945, 36 429-442 See also F B Davis,
Fundamental factors of comprehension in reading
Psycbometncka, 1944, 9 185-197, R S Langsam,

A factor analysis of reading ability, / Exper Educ ,
1941, 10 57-63

ABILITY 107

correlations were then subjected to a rather
involved method of statistical treatment
known as factor analysis Through this tech-
nique of mathematical analysis, the educa-
tional psychologist IS able to determine how
many different, independent traits are in-
volved in determining the scores on all of
the ongmal tests In addition, a study of the
factors which each test tends to measure
enables him to descnbe these traits which
have been isolated The following factors
were found and identified in this experi-
ment, below each factor is listed the tests
m tins book which measure it

1 Rate of comprehending material written m an mductive style

Rate on Art Reading Test words per mmute
percentile

2 Rate of comprehending material written in a non-inductive style

Rate on Geology Readmg Test words per mmute
percentile

3 Attitude of comprehension accuracy

Comprehension accuracy on Art Readmg Test percentile
Comprehension accuracy on Geology Reading Test percentile

4 Vocabulary

General Vocabulary Test* percentile

Dictionary Test your quartile

6 Ability to read non-piose materials
Table Reading Test your quartile
Chart Reading Test youi quartile
Map Reading Test your quartile
Formula Reading Test your quaitile

io8 EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT VII

Diagnosing Your Reading Ability

The first step in this project is to com-
plete these tests so that you may have a pro-
file of the abilities which determine your
reading skill Except for the General Vo-
cabulary and the Dictionary Tests which
appear later in this project, all the other
tests referred to above are located in Ap-
pendix I Directions are given with each
test, although some assistance in timing will
have to be given with the Art and the
Geology Reading Tests When completed,
correct each test from its key in Appendix II
Norms for tlie Art and Geology Reading
Tests are given below and norms for the
other tests are included later in this project.
When you have completed these tests,
wnte your results in above as a general sum-
mary of this project and also on the Sum-
mary Sheet at the back of the book.

Some special directions are needed for
scoring the Art and Geology Reading Tests
The number of the line marked at the end
of the lo-minute interval gives tire average
number of words read per minute Table 5
shows how well a student’s rate compares
with that of other college students (superior
readers in the general population) in terms

of percentile ranks Thus if his words per
minute on the Art Reading Test were 238.
his percentile rank would be 50, or equal
to that of tlie average college ifreshman If
his rate had been 285 words per minute
(this number is halfway between 270 and
300 or the 80th and 90th percentiles on the
table), he would interpolate and say that
285 words per minute is equal to the 85th
percentile.

Comprehension accuracy in reading is de-
termined by dividing tlie number of ques-
tions a student answers correctly by the
number of questions asked about the ma-
terial he has read That is, if he got 10 ques-
tions right out of the 20 questions asked
about die material he read on the Art
Reading Test, his per cent right would be
50 (Students who wish to save themselves
some work in long division will find that
the table on page 213 can be used to trans-
late fractions into per cent ) This 50 per
cent right, however, does not indicate how
he compares to other students, so this num-
ber is looked up in tlie right-hand part of
Table 5 to find his percentile rank It will
be seen that 50 per cent right on the Art
Reading Test is about equal to tlie 10th
percentile.

Table 5 Peioentile Ranks for Rate Scores and for Comprehension Accuracy Scores on the Art and the
Geology Readmg Tests

Percentile

Rate in Words
per Minute

Art Geology

Comprehension Accuracy
m Per Cent Right

Art Geology

99

380

384

91

90

96

330

319

85

81

90

300

279

82

76

80

270

243

79

70

70

255

228

77

66

60

243

215

72

62

60

238

205

69

68

40

229

194

67

54

30

214

185

64

60

20

202

174

60

45

10

176

157

51

38

6

162

144

41

33

1

125

114

24

18

READING ABILITY

Plan of This Project

Did you have difficulty with any of these
tests? What are the characteristics of your
reading difficulty? You will be interested m
finding the causes and methods for treating
them The subdivisions of this project are
arranged to fit the above analysis, i e ,
(A) Rate of Reading, (B) Comprehension
Accuracy, (C) Vocabulary and Dictionary,
and (D) non-prose reading skills for tables,
charts, maps and formulas If a test has
shown that you have difficulty in any of
these fields, you will be interested in the
remedial exercises suggested in that section

A. Rate of Reading

The two aspects of reading that show the
greatest improvement during the freshman
year in college are rate of reading and vocab-
ulary. Rate of reading is intimately related to
the number of fixations that the eyes make
as they move across the page. A record of
such eye movement patterns is shown in
Chart 15 Such a record is obtained by pho-

109

tographmg the eyes as they move across the
page and tlien projecting the film on the
original text where the location of each fixa-
tion is marked Each line, therefore, repre-
sents a fixation, tlie numbers at the top of
the lines indicate their sequence, and the
numbers at the bottom their duration in
thirtieths of a second It will be seen that
good readers make fewer fixations and le-
gressions than poor readers do

If conditions can be set up within the
individual so that he makes fewer slops and
tlierefore longer jumps, he will read at a
much faster rate Reading rate is primarily
determined by comprehension facility which
will be discussed later m this project Tire
present section deals with a specific condi-
tion that seems to cause a slow rate even
though comprehension ability is good, Tliat
IS, a carry-over of oral-reading habits into
silent reading often makes an individual
look at one word at a time and so develop
a habit of reading slowly This word-by-word
reading was tlie lowest of the four levels of
reading ability described above.

Eye Movements of a Good Adult Reader
Mr| Black was fajadly h|irt. His colored servant

eav| that hi^ master hjid b^n left |to die and
larried him to I the nearjest town. Theri he bunted

Eye Movements of a Poor Adult Reader

!^lai^k wp

|5 ,6 .8 .7 p .9 .11

I hurt. I His

saw|%lfary!s lma|er ha/ bff tf to*]d|ie

'8 fiol8il2'n V '9 fio '9 I9 ,'j7 13® ®

carjied ^i| to |th|e ^earjijt tow|n. The|e|h| |h|il|ed

Chart 15 Eye movements of a good and a poor adult reader
for the same material (From G T Busivell, How adults read, Suppl.
Eduo. Monog , 1937, No 45 Used with permission )

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROTECT Vn

Self-Evaluation

1 Are your rate percentiles consistently
quite low (lowest lo per cent)?

2 Do you tend to read the Art and
Geology selections at about the same rate
during each time interval? The first number
marked shows the amount read during the
first 3 minutes, the second number minus
the first gives the amount read during the
second 3 minutes, and 75 per cent of the
difference between the last number and the
second will give the rate for the third 3
minutes

Tabulate these results here:

First Second Third

3 mm 3 roin 3 mm

Art

Geology

3 Do your lips move while reading?

Program for Improvement

If the above evaluabon shows that you
have a habit of reading slowly, the following
remedial suggestions will be of value. If
your slow rate seems to be due to compre-
hension difficulties, however, you should
turn to Sections B and C of this project for
remedial suggestions

1. Practice reading more rapidly than you
do now and in a short time you will develop
a habit of reading faster. One must be care-
ful m thus pushing his rate not to sbm and
miss the meaning of the selection The way
to read might be best illustrated by the way
a student would read when he discovers that
in ten minutes there will be a quiz on a

lesson that he hasn’t read. This student reads
very rapidly yet gets all that he can out of
the lesson At first, reading in this way may
be fatiguing— if so, take short rests to write
notes on what you have lead Later, this or
a faster rate will become habitual Read all
your work m this manner, halflrearted prac-
tice IS of little value Use any free time you
have in tins classroom for practice on rate
The simplicity of this method of improv-
ing rate may make it appear misleadingly
easy Continued effort must be exerted, how-
ever, to produce gains It will be difficult to
remember to keep pushing your rate as you
read, and the unaccustomed method will
temporarily be more fatiguing and less pleas-
ant tlian your usual comfortable speed You
will have to plan a definite program of prac-
bce each day and faithfully carry it out
Since practice will be the main aid to im-
provement and since rate is least hampered
by easy mateiial, each person ought to do
quite a bit of rapid reading of such outside
matenal as newspapers, novels, and maga-
zines Tlie form on the next page may be
used for keeping a record of your outside
reading, if needed, extra sheets may be ob-
tained from the counselor
2 It rs drfficult for a person to determine
his improvement day by day because of tire
tendency for rate to fluctuate with change
in difficulty of the material and, without a
record, one is unable to remember his earlier
scores Hence it is important to measure rate
of reading several tunes each week and plot
these results on the following graph Fluctu-
ations up and down may occur from session
to session, but the line should tend to pro-
gress upwards with practice This visual
evidence of improvement gives great encour-
agement to carry on further practice and
also indicates when a satisfactory rate has
been attained At tlie end of the term
another standardized Rate and Comprehen-
sion Test will be given so that gam from

READING ABILITY
OUTSIDE READING RECORD

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT Vli

practice during the term can he shown with
two comparable tests.

The Rate Graph is prepared as follows
Along the left-hand edge of the paper are
marked word-per-mmute values in steps of
10 for each interval, eg, 150, 160, 170, etc
Along the bottom mark the date of each
test— the initial Rate and Comprehension

Tests at the left-hand edge, the first weekly
test on the next line, etc As you plot each
rate score, connect that dot with the previ-
ous one by a line To minimize the fluctua-
tions due to differences in diEculty of
material read, read the same book each time
And use a book that demands “reading”
(sociology, history) rather than “detailed

GRAPH OP RATE PRACTICE

READING ABILITY ii:

btudying” (algebra, a foreign language) In
estimating the amount read, count the
words in a full page and multiply this by
the number of pages read Divide this num-
ber of words by the number of minutes it
takes to read that chapter
Care must be taken, while measuring rate,
to make sure that you are comprehending as
you read This can be insured by writing a
summary paragraph about what you have
read when measuring rate. Tliese summary
paragraphs may also be used to evaluate your
ability to summarize.

3 Lip movement, whispering, and point-
ing with the finger while reading all prevent
lapid reading These acts do not aid compre-
hension and should be eliminated

4 Since comprehension difficulties are
usually the main determinants of rate of
reading, exercises to improve vocabulary, to
learn to read for questions, and to improve
organization will result in faster as well as
better comprehension Tlie methods for im-
proving these are given in the following
sections of this project Practice with the
Survey Q3R Method also usually results in
improved rate of reading All these should
be pracfaced in addition to the rate exercises.

B. Comprehension Accuracy
Students read in order to comprehend
and be stimulated by the ideas m a selec-
tion; the major emphasis in training should,
therefore, be on improving comprehension
The characteristics of effective comprehen-
sion vary with the requirements of the situa-
tion, so a first step is to define the nature
of the undergraduate task
Analysis of undergraduate textbooks and
quizzes show that they are pnmarily trying
to put across a limited number of basic con-
cepts m each subject field The great amount
of detail in a text is there to elaborate and
illustrate these essential concepts.

1. A first characteristic of the student

task IS, therefore, to select and comprehend
these basic concepts,

2. A second characteristic is to complete
this comprehension within a reasonable
amount of time Thus students frequently
complain that their lessons take too long to
read, consequently they seek ways of increas-
ing their speed of comprehension,

3. A third characteristic of the student’s
reading job is the adoption of a level of
comprehension accuracy which will most
effectively complete the assignment. For in-
stance, some students are capable of better
comprehension but think that shallow skim-
ming of a lesson is all that is necessary. Other
students, believing that a student must know
"everything,” read so carefully as to have
difficulty in completing their lessons and
often get lost among die mass of detail they
are emphasizing Tliese three characteristics
of the student reading task are treated more
fully below.

Self-Evaluation

The Art and Geology Reading Tests each
provide two measures which are of interest
here Tlie rate of reading scores, except in
those instances where they are abnormally
low due to word-by-word reading, are m
reality measures of the speed with which
you were able to comprehend the selections
That IS, they provide a measure of how
rapidly your background of vocabulary,
knowledge of these fields, intelligence, etc ,
permitted you to read these selections. Is
your rate of comprehension for non-fiction
material at a satisfactory level for you?

While It IS generally true that when a
student reads more slowly and carefully his
comprehension accuracy tends to increase
and when he skims his accuracy score tends
to go down, the Art and Geology compre-
hension accuracy tests actually measure an
aspect of reading which is uniquely different
from the fectors measured by the rate tests.

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT VII

The directions ask the student to read in
the manner in which he normally studies
his assignments The comprehension accu-
racy score then represents a measure of the
level of comprehension accuracy which he
thinks IS sufEcient to answer quizzes, i e , is
a measure of his attitude toward study
material (The rate test indicates how fast
he can comprehend at that levd ) It is im-
portant that a student leam to adjust the
level of comprehension accuracy with which
he reads to an efficient level foi college
assignments

So look over your reading rate and com-
prehension test scores and note below if
either the rate or the comprehension accu-
racy scores indicate need for remedial work
on tins section.

1 Selecting and Comprehending the
Mam Points Effective study consists of
“reading with one’s head instead of one’s
eyes.” The student must learn to read with
an active attitude of seeking what is impor-
tant and subordinating what is merely ex-
planatory He must rise above rather passive
comprehension of each succeeding sentence
and paragraph The Survey Q3R Method,
which was discussed in Project II, is the
mam approach to this aspect of the reader’s
task. This material should be reread if this
area is a problem for a student
2. Increasing Speed and Depth of Com-
prehension Students read more rapidly in
those fields with which they are familiar.
Although the text of the Geology Reading
Test is more difficult than the text of the
Art Reading Test, students of geology can

usually read the former selection at the
faster rate They would, m fact, say, because
of dieir background of vocabulary and geo-
logical concepts, that the geology selection
was the easier of the two A basic approach
to improving comprehension, either in speed
or depth, is to increase vocabulary and under-
standing of tlie basic ideas in a student’s
subject fields (See Section C for a discus-
sion of procedures here ) Techniques which
help die readei focus his attention on the
main ideas in the selection tend to keep
him from becoming engrossed in detail and
so speed up Ins reading And techniques of
using a preliminary survey and the thread
of the argument thus far read to precompre-
hend what IS coming can also help in speed-
ing up comprehension
3. Developing an ESective Level of Com-
prehension Accuracy Wliile in general the
higher the level of comprehension accuracy
the better, this is not always true Obviously
a person who scores very low on the com-
prehension accuracy tests should work to
increase his accuracy in order not to miss so
many essential ideas as he reads Since the
questions in tlie Art and Geology tests are
typically based on important ideas in the
selections, the student who comprehends
more of them than another student is usually
the better reader Sometimes, however, stu-
dents show up with a combination of
extremely high comprehension accuracy with
exceedingly slow rate These students mis-
understand what college studying means
Tlieir attempts to dwell meticulously over
each idea so slows them down that they
waste time Wliile their immediate memory
may be good, the large number of ideas
often seem like a mass of unorganized detail
and are rapidly forgotten Thus the slow
learner often tends to be the rapid forgetter
Both the inaccurate reader and the slow,
meticulous reader will be discussed here
The inaccurate reader often does not un-

READING ABILITY

derstand that a deeper comprehension is
reqmred in college work Awareness of how
his accuracy scores compare to those of other
students will do much to make him read
more carefully Even more effective is adop-
tion of a method of checking his compre-
hension of essential ideas after he reads each
section This can be done by changing a
heading into a question, reading to answer
it, then checking to see if he can answer
the question from memory If so, he can be
sure he is comprehending the essential ideas
A third technique for raising comprehension
accuracy is to increase a student’s vocabulary
and background of information so that the
ideas can be comprehended more deeply
and accurately One common cause of in-
accuracy and diEculty in reading is failure
to understand basic material which came
earlier in the book, Later parts of a textbook
typically make use of basic concepts ex-
plained earlier, thus a student who doesn’t
get these early basic ideas is lost on tire later
material

Tlie problem of the slow, meticulous
reader cannot be solved simply by way of
having him speed up his reading until rate
and accuracy are m better balance Basically
such a reader is going about his lessons in-
correctly and a distinct shift m method may
be necessary Such students are occasionally
like the apocryphal housewife who was
found dusting the inside of the radio when
the guests arrived, both should be admon-
ished to keep important goals in mind A
slow reading student should turn to tlie
material on the Survey Q3R Method and
to the section above on reading to select and
comprehend the mam points Much practice
will be needed to develop this new skill so
it can be substituted for his present method
In working on this, a student should use
easy reading material such as the Reader’s
Digest He should look at the title to orient
himself, read the article rapidly, and then

recite briefly on it Such practice will gradu-
ally develop an effective substitute skill.

C Vocabulary

As indicated above, vocabulary is one of
the most important aspects of college read-
ing An analysis of college quizzes, especially
in freshman and sophomore courses, indi-
cates that they frequently call for definitions
of words The vocabulary necessary foi com-
piehendmg even newspapers is quite large
For instance, it is estimated that a vocabu-
lary of 50,000 words is necessary to under-
stand fully an edition of the New Yoik
Times A large vocabulary of usable words
IS also an aid in making precise statements
Most students have experienced occasions
when they searched rather unsuccessfully for
words to express exactly what they meant

But, as cited in Project I, few students
know how good their vocabulary is m com-
parison to other students Without such
information a student scarcely knows how
hard he should work in this area.

Self-Evaluation

A power test is provided for measuring
your general vocabulary. It is based on a
thorough sampling of words accoiding to
their frequency of use You are not expected
to know all the words included, but with
this sampling method it can be assumed
that if you know a certain percentage of
these words you will also know a like per-
centage of all words of equivalent frequency
of use. This test will be taken by everyone
in the class at the same time. After you have
worked 20 minutes, tire counselor will read
the correct answers or you may turn to pages
244-245 to score your test Tlien use Table 6
to translate your score into a percentile rank.
If your rank is lower than you would like,
read the suggestions below for improvement
In this case, however, do not study the spe
cific errors you made on the test.

ii6 EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT VH

In addition to a general vocabulary, each
person has to master the basic technical
vocabulary in his fields of interest Thus, the
doctor and the lawyer use many words m

Table 6 Percentile Banks for Scores on
Vocabulaiy Test

Percentiles Scores

100 80

95 66

90 56

80 49

70 44

60 39

50 36

40 33

30 30

20 26

10 21

6 18

1 10

common, but each has a list of technical
words in his own field. One of the great
difficulties faced by the college student is the
necessity of mastering the basic technical
vocabulary m each of his courses, eg, the
terms from history, from geology, from math-
ematics, from social science, etc. Unless he

knows these concepts, all the explanations
m text and class are “over his head ”

Your competence with such technical vo-
cabulary in your courses can most easily be
measured by marking the technical words
tliat are used in headings or that are itali-
cized or in boldface type in the body of
your textbooks Then see if you can briefly
define or explain each one Any missed
should be listed on page 125 and studied
Previous quizzes are another source of im-
portant technical terras Whenever you find
a question missed because of your not know-
ing the terms used, list them along with the
technical terms found m your textbooks
Tlie dictionary is an extremely important
tool in learning about concepts used by
authors. Yet many students do not know
how to use a dictionary effectively, nor are
they in the habit of using it often Use the
Dictionary Test below to measure your skill
in dictionary usage. Wlien all of the ques-
tions have been answered, use the key on
page 246 to correct your test Place your
score (the number right) in the correct box
below and on tlie Summary Sheet at the
back of the book.

Norms for Dictionary Test

Lowest Q 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter Top Quarter

Qi Md Q,

READING ABILITY

117

A GENERAL VOCABULARY TEST "

Score Peicentile Date

In this test you are to show that you know the meaning of the foEowing words. In the parentheses
at the left, write the number of the word which means the same as the word to be defined Note the
example, then proceed at once to the test Work rapidly

Example

( 5 ) leply (1) show (2) reason (3) call (4)
rejoice (5) answer

1 ( ) illustrious (1) clever (2) famous (3) odd

(4) sensitive (5) wicked

2 ( ) confident (1) sensible (2) confiding (3)

sure (4) expectant (5) enthusiastic

3 ( ) allegiance (1) safety (2) respect (3) loy-

alty (4) honesty (5) honor

4 ( ) covet (1) hold (2) usurp (3) seize (4)

refuse (5) desire

6 { ) pensive (1) meditative (2) quiet (3)

mistaken (4) earnest (S) relieved

0 . ( ) discreet. (1) secret (2) prudent (3) op-
posite (4) brief ( 6 ) separate

7 ( ) amiable' (1) loving (2) sad (3) satisfied

(4) agreeable (5) clever

8 ( ) fatigue (1) weariness (2) pain (3) sor-

row (4) remorse (5) bitterness

9 ( ) loathe (1) dislike (2) recall (3) hinder

(4) refram (5) detest

10 ( ) absurd (1) peculiar (2) sick (3) ridicu-

lous (4) laughable ( 6 ) queer

11 ( ) decade ( 1 ) fortnight ( 2 ) a score of years

(3) ten years (4) one hundred years (5)
one thousand years

12 ( ) bewilder (1) perplex C2) lose (3) soothe

(4) deceive (5) chasten

13. ( ) alien (1) opposed (2) special (3) menac-
mg (4) foreign (5) mysterious

14 ( ) fidelity (1) faithfulness (2) enthusiasm
(3) strength (4) forbearance ( 6 ) venera-
tion

15 ( ) dissension (1) hypocrisy (2) elongation

(3) discord (4) nusery (5) discussion

16 ( ) eccentric (1) crazy (2) odd (3) intel-

lectual (4) sensible (5) conventional

17 ( ) latent (1) punctual (2) late (3) dormant

(4) easy (5) impossible

18. ( ) heretic (1) communist (2) pagan (3) in-

sane pel son (4) atheist (5) dissenter

19. ( ) eminence' ( 1 ) nearness (2) distance (3)

greediness (4) distinction ( 6 ) generosity

20. ( ) judicious (1) unusual (2) earnest (3)

wise (4) lawful (5) bold

21 ( ) arduous- (1) endless (2) passionate (3)

hght (4) easy (5) difficult

22 ( ) mcredulous (I) faultless (2) surprised

(3) dutiful (4) insincere ( 6 ) skeptical

23 ( ) propitious (1) sympathetic (2) favor-

able (3) clever (4) odd (5) ugly

24 ( ) penury' (1) power (2) debt (3) poverty

14) graft (5) credit

26. ( ) acquit' (1) liberate (2) adjourn (3) stop

(4) condemn (5) refuse

26 ( ) contentious' (1) mean (2) bitter (3)
harmomous (4) mild ( 6 ) quarrelsome

27. ( ) impertinent (1) diffident (2) modest f3)

poUte (4) disrespectful (5) unreasonable

28 ( ) bemgn (1) aged (2) indignant (3) kindly

(4) sad (5) celebrated

29 ( ) complacent' (1) snobbish (2) delighted

(3) satisfied (4) dull (5) stubborn

30. ( ) ludicrous: (1) weird (2) appalling (3)
weak (4) laughable (5) insane

Turn over page

•Devised by S. L Ihessey and used by special permission of the Ohio State Department of Education.

ii8 EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT VII

31 ( ) appreciable (1) perceptible (2) welcome

(3) honest (4) small (5) valuable

32 ( ) mstigate (1) sense (2) make pubhc (3)

prowl (4) start (5) find out

33. ( ) palpable (1) readily perceived (2) safe

(3) erroneous (4) fatuous (6) weak

34 ( ) adimt (1) lucky (2) reserved (3) playful

(4) deceitful (5) dexterous

35, ( ) diffident (1) unruly (2) small (3) eagei
(4) silly (5) reserved

36 ( ) memal (1) pious (2) servile (3) exalted

(4) devoted (5) angiy

37 ( ) candid (1) frank (2) weak (3) clever (4)

absurd (5) deceitful

38 ( ) emgma (1) laxity (2) sentence (3) deco-

ration (4) puzzle (5) religion

39. ( ) inteiim (1) Idcewise (2) meantime (3)
during office (4) space (5) age

40 ( ) refund (1) guarantee (2) exchange (3)

discount (4) leceive (5) pay back

41 ( ) blatant (1) evident (2) stiange (3) noisy

(4) wild (5) foolish

42. ( ) juvemle (1) soft (2) weak (3) legal (4)
young (6) amusmg

43 ( ) anathema (1) result (2) warmng (3)

blessmg (4) irony (5) curse

44 ( ) contiguous (1) smooth (2) comparable

(3) distant (4) even (6) adjoming

45 ( ) adherent (1) follower (2) cyme (3) old

man (4) hermit (5) prejudiced

46 ( ) emolument (1) flattery (2) decoration

(3) theft (4) pay (5) honor

47 ( ) munificent (1) rich (2) large (3) ideal

(4) joyful (5) generous

48 ( ) litigation (1) busmess orgamzation (2)

partnership (3) law suit (4) fight (5)
clandestme affair

49 ( ) preamble' (1) procedure (2) mtroduc-

tion (3) command (4) hypothesis (5) law

50 ( ) cogent (1) nght (2) stated (3) convmo-

mg (4) absurd (5) real

61 ( ) mundate (1) flood (2) extinguish (3) re-

lease (4) charge (5) moisten

52 ( ) veracity (1) fear (2) wisdom (3) truth
(4) courage (5) earnestness

63 ( ) abrogate (1) annul (2) initiate (3) re-
duce (4) prepare (5) demur

54 ( ) dogmatic (1) faithful (2) positive (3)

religious (4) clear (5) radical

55 ( ) loquacious (1) heavy (2) sorrowful 13;

foohsh (4) talkative (5) witty

66 ( ) anomalous (1) poor (2) mcogmto (3)

nameless (4) ummportant (5) abnoimal

67 ( ) necromancei (1) poet (2) sorcerer (3)

oratoi (4) authoi (6) mimster

58 ( ) soliloquy (1) tiiade (2) adage (3) con-

versation (4) monologue (5) cadenza

59 ( ) decorous (1) sad (2) elegant (3) proper

(4) obsequious (6) fashionable

60 ( ) mediocre (1) good (2) odd (3) mistaken

(4) ordmary (5) lax

61. ( ) comity (1) beauty (2) humor (3) cour-
tesy (4) godliness (5) faith

62 ( ) ascetic (1) invalid (2) medicine (3)

savior (4) athlete (6) lecluse

63 ( ) nonpareil (1) matchless (2) pacific (3)

unwritten (4) foreign (6) extravagant

64 ( ) duplicity (1) stealth (2) candor (3) de-

ception (4) consistency (6) weakness

65 ( ) habiliment (1) property (2) garment (3)

home (4) habit (6) accessory

66 ( ) exigent (1) departing (2) urgent (3) safe

(4) tunely (5) late

67. ( ) vertigo (1) alertness (2) metamorphosis
(3) action (4) speed (5) dizziness

68 ( ) charlatan (1) prostitute (2) savior (3)

servant (4) quack (5) mystic

69 ( ) amelioiation (1) calm (2) prayer (3)

peace (4) penance (5) improvement

70 ( ) desiccate (1) burn (2) cut down (3)

destroy (4) remove (5) dry up

READING ABILITY

( ) recondite (1) delinquent (2) ciumnal
(3) pensive (4) ideal (5) profound

71 ( ) taciturn (1) wise (2) loquacious (3)

bashful (4) reserved (5) quarielsome

72 ( ) chanson (1) song (2) feat (3) noble deed

(4) penalty (5) sacrifice

73 ( ) nonchalant (1) bored (2) happy (3) in-

different (4) conceited (6) suave

74 ( ) replica (1) antique (2) necklace (3) re-

semblance (4) pamtmg (5) duplicate

75 ( ) flagitious Cl) facetious (2) villamous (3)

simpering (4) lepulsive (5) militant

77 ( ) abnegation (1) authority (2) veto (3)

renunciation (4) refusal (5) surrender

78 ( ) fatuous (1) obvious (2) celebrated (3)

heavy (4) silly (5) impossible

79 ( ) amemty (1) pleasantness (2) praise (3)

collection (4) improvement (5) misun-
derstanding

80 ( ) ubiquitous (1) learned (2) selfish (31

ommpresent (4) depaited (5) wicked

(By permission Prom An Outline for Dictionary Study Designed for Use with Webster’s Collegiate Dic-
tionary, Fifth Edition, Copynght, 1937, 1940, by G & C Mernam Co )

READING ABILITY

121

TEST OF DICTIONARY USAGE

Answer the following questions by refeinng to the sample dictionary page printed opposite

1 “John Dory” lefers to a (1) historical character, (2) fish, (3) kmd of boat

2 “Dory" m “John Doiy" is best pronounced to rhyme with (1) see, (2) may,

(3) my, (4) the “i” sound in “wnt ”

3 The plural of John Doiy is John Dories T F

4 The fifth word on the page referring to a kind of bread would be spelled in what
way within a sentence’ (Watch capitals ajid the separation of words )

5 The term referied to in question 4 origmally came from the term (1) journey
cake, (2) Johnny’s cake, (3) Indian biead

6 The term “Johnny jump up” is wntten here mcoirectly T F

7 If it were necessaiy to break the word " Johnsoman” in typmg near the end of
a line, at what two places should this be done? Indicate answer by giving the
letter just preceding each break

8 “Joie de vivre” IS an Itahan word T F

9. How many different meanings are given for the word “join”?

10 How many antonyms are given for the word “join”’

11. The preferred pronunciation of the word “jointed” ihymes best with the word
(1) did, (2) bed, (3) bad, (4) seed

12 The single apostrophe-like symbol which appears in most of the longer words,
as after the “n” in “joinery,” indicates (1) the place to divide the woid at the
end of a line, (2) the part preceding is spoken louder, (3) the division of syllables

13. In terms of how many parts of speech is the word “jomt” defined?

14 How many moamngs are given for the word “joist”?

16 How many synonyms are given for the word “joke”?

16 How many meanings are given for the word “joker”?

17 “ Jole” means (1) joke, (2) cheek, (3) pole, (4) French for “jolly ”

18 The symbol colloq , as used in the definition of “jollify,” indicates that this
vord (1) should not be used m formal waiting, (2) has this meaning only m
certain localities, (3) was used long ago but is no longer in common use

19 What IS the past tense form of “jollify”’

20 The word “joUity,” used in the sense of a festive gathermg, is primarily
restricted to which country’ (1) Canada, (2) U S A , (3) Britain, (4) Scotland

21 The plural of “jolly” is “joUies ”

22 "Jonathan" apple is pronounced the same way as “Jonathan," the Biblical
character

23 A “jongleur” is a (1) juggler, (2) nunstrel, (3) vein in blood system, (4) lawyer.

24 “Jonquil” has how many acceptable pronunciations?

T F
T F

122 EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT Vn

Program for Improvement per cent of the technical terms were used

A student should be selective m setting
out to increase his vocabulary He should
learn new woids which will help him the
most in his schoolwork and in his daily
living The following two bases are best m
making such selections (a) He should note
words and phrases used in lectuies, conversa-
tions, and reading which say exceedingly well
what he may have tried before somewhat
ineffectually to say List these on the page
designated below (b) Even more important
for schoolwork, he should learn as early as
possible the unknown words (especially the
technical terminology) which occur fre-
quently in his textbooks A higher per cent
of the running words in some science text-
books are unfamiliar to the beginning stu-
dent than in some foreign language text-
books (where the vocabulary burden is more
carefully controlled) However, a tabulation
of die actual words used shows that tlie
number of different unfamiliar technical
terms is not particularly large They aie used
frequently Learning these words as they
occur the first time saves a lot of vague
comprehension later as they reappear again
and again.

1 As a part of your self-evaluation, you
were asked to make a list of technical terms
you did not know Make it a regular practice
to mark new technical terms as you come
to them in your textbooks or list them with
the others on the page below It will also
be useful to take one of your courses— the
one with which you are having the most
difficulty if you wish, and list all the basic
technical terms that have occurred (omit
terms which are obviously included m die
explanatory matenal and do not recur again) .
Some students may feel that such a list of
technical terms in a textbook might be
almost endless, but only the basic technical
terms are meant here, i e , the ones that are
used again and again. Thus in one text 63

only once and would not be considered m
such a basic list, on the other hand, 82
words (7 per cent of the technical words)
were used more than ten times m over 400
pages Tliese words can usually be spotted
radier easily from their location in headings
or their being italicized m the text Thus
your list over a part of a course should turn
out to be surprisingly small Watch in your
later lessons how frequently these terms
recur And if you study these terms, your
new assignments should seem much easier

2 The next step is to learn these selected
words on bodi lists One technique is to
read down the lists or through youi check-
ings of such terms m your texts and see if
you can define each one Look up those
which cause difficulty These words must
also be made functional for you so they can
be used on tests and in discussion Tiy using
them in discussions and explanations There
IS a saying that a word used three times i.s
yours forever If you make a conscious effort
to learn and use a few new words each week,
your vocabulary will seem to develop with
surpnsmg rapidity

3 Wide reading tends to broaden one’s
background so that ideas m lessons seem
more familiar Also the context of what is
being read tends .to develop some familiarity
and understanding of new terms presented
Frequent encounters with these words will
gradually build up an understanding of them
A program of regular recreational reading
will do much to increase your vocabulary It
must be said, however, that while reading
the sport page and comic magazines will in-
crease your vocabulary, they do not develop
an understanding of terms frequently used
in college workl

4 When a new word is encountered in

Cole, Improvement of Reading, Farrar &
Rinehart, 19^8, p 161, F D Curtis, Investigations
of Vocabulary in Textbooks oi Science, Gmn, 1938

READING ABILITY

leading, certain techniques are more helpful
than others. It is a good practice not to stop
leading when you come across an unknown
word, finish the paragraph first The mean-
ing of the paragraph may be enough to
indicate the meaning of the woid so you
won’t have to look it up If not, the word
can then be looked up in the dictionary
Reading to the end of the paragraph also
keeps the unfamiliar word fiom interrupting
the main idea for which you were reading
Several ways have been worked out which
enable a reader to guess what a word means
by using ceitain clues m tlie text" Tliat is,
authors often accompany strange words with
definitions or synonyms, or the whole con-
text of the paragraph may indicate its mean-
ing Good students tend to use these clues
more than poor students and any student
can be helped who learns consciously to look
for such clues when he has difficulty with
a word These clues, with an example of
each, are as follows Can you guess what
the word omitted in each blank space means?

a Definitions, i e , “a is a large,

cat-like animal ”

b Experience, i e , “as as a boy

or girl before a first date ’’
c Comparison or contrast, le, “Eskimos
have ^ing eyes like the Chi-

nese ”

d Synonym, i e , “When Jim heard about

the tup, he was He was

glad there was to be no school that day ”
e Familiar expression or language experi-
ence, e g , “harder than ”

® C M McCullough, The recognibon of con-
text clues m reading, Elem Engl Rev, 1945, 22
1-5

f Summary, e g , “His knees shook and his
eyes seemed to pop as he looked all around,

for he was very much ”

g Reflection of mood or situation, e g , “He
hopped and skipped and danced about
and whistled ^ly to himself ”

It IS interesting to analyze portions of
different textbooks to see how many of these
devices an author uses Of course, the more
he uses the easier it is for the trained leader.

5 If a word cannot be quickly figured out
by tlie above techniques, look it up m a dic-
tionary Good readers, even the most highly
educated, make very frequent use of a dic-
tionary In fact, the better the reader, the
more apt he usually is to use the dictionary'
Many students are inefficient in using a dic-
tionary, however, and often don’t know
about its many values If you missed any
items on tlie Dictionary Test, use the keyed
answers and the boxed legends at the edge
of the sample dictionary page to figure out
how to read a dictionary
It may sound strange but a dictionary is
an interesting book— not to read straight
through but to browse in In addition to
giving the meaning of a word, a diction-
ary also indicates spelling, pronunciation,
source, synonyms, and occasionally antonyms
(words meaning the opposite) You will also
be interested in the number of meanings
which many words have as, for instance, over
one hundred foi the word “run ” Pages xxn
to XXV of the Fifth Edition of Webster’s
Collegiate Dictionaiy or pages xcii to xcvx
of the Second Edition of Webster’s New
International Dictionary give further infor-
raabon about how to use a dictionary.

124

1. Everyday vocabulary

EFFECTIVE STUDY

PROJECT m

READING ABILITY

125

3. Technical words from your courses

120

EFFECTIVE STUDY
Norms

PROJECT vn

D Special Reading Skills

Tables, graphs, formulae, and maps are
devices that aid comprehension Yet most
poor readers skip them with a sigh of relief
—“There’s half a page filled by a pieture I
don’t have to read ” Tables summarize and
unify a wealth of data so that you can see
possible relationships and trends, graphs pic-
ture these trends even more readily for you,
formulae are a shorthand method of stating
involved relationships m a simple manner if
you will but study them, and maps, of course,
picture geographic relationships

Difficulty with these comprehension de-
vices springs from two causes (i) lack of
knowledge of how they are constructed and
interpreted, and (2) lack of appreciation of
the fact that these devices cannot be read at
normal reading speed but must be studied

Self-Evaluation

Tests of four types are included in Appen-
dix I reading tables, reading graphs, reading
maps and reading formulae Each test con-
tains simple examples of the kinds of
material typically found in textbooks, the
questions measure your ability to get basic
information from these materials The norms
above permit a comparison of your skill
with that of other students But since these
are simple examples of basic materials, your

goal should be ability to answer all of these
questions as well as ability to understand
non-prose materials which occur in your
studies The keys for correcting these tests
are on pages 249-250 in Appendix II

Program for Improvement

1 Coirect and understand the test items
that you miss

2 Practice reading all graphs, maps,
tables, and formulae that you find in your
lessons They emphasize and illustrate im-
portant points, effort spent on them is very
worth while Your counselor will assist you
in interpreting any of these comprehension
aids that give you difficulty

Modern textbooks are using graphs and
charts more and more, rather than being
simply a supplement to the text they are
now frequently used as the basic means of
presenting ideas During the war period,
types of visual aids new to undergraduate
courses have become popular, e g., wiring dia-
grams, blueprints, three-dimensional draw-
ings, weather maps, topographical maps,
pictorial maps, etc Ability to read these has
become basic to schoolwork and to everyday
living

3 The following readings give further
information on how to read these compre-
hension aids

READING ABILITY

H Arken and R Colton, Graphs, How to
Make and Use Them, Harper, 1936
Chaps I, II, XIV

R W Frederick, How to Study Handbook,
Appleton-Century, 1938 Pages 50-64
How to read graphs and tables, pages 72—
86 How to read maps
S L Greitzer, Elementary Topography and
Map Reading, McGraw-Hill, 1944
H P Howland, L L Jarvie, and L F
Smith, How to Read in Science and Tech-
nology, Harper, 1943 Pages 241-264

E Summary

The several sections and their interrela-
tions indicate a need for a summary of the
activities listed in this project Look over
your reading test results again and decide
which aieas seem most m need of remedial
training Then, m tlie followmg outline of
suggested remedial activities, check tliose
which you plan to carry out

A Rate

1 Daily practice and plotting on graph

2 Stop lip movement and line-following
with finger

3 Improve comprehension

127

B Comprehension Accuracy

1 Learn to select and comprehend mam
points

2 Increase background of information
and knowledge of technical terms

3 Practice Survey Q3R Method

4 Learn to use context of story to pre-
comprehend what IS being read

5 Build an eflficient attitude of compie-
hension accuracy

C Vocabulary

1 Make and study lists of technical terms
and vocabulary of courses

2 Make list of usable everyday words
and use tliem

3 Read widely to broaden background
and vocabulary

4 Practice techniques of figuring out
meaning of unknown words

5 Leam to use dictionary more effectively
D Special Reading Skills

1 Study errors made on tests

2 Analyze tables and charts in textbooks
to find any difficulties in reading

3 Make it a practice to study all tables
and charts in lessons

4 Obtain training in reading new types
of charts

Summarize bnefly below further details of
your proposed training program in reading

EFFECTIVE STUDY

PROJECT vn

PROJECT VIII

WRITING SKILLS

A large part of our endeavor to affect the
behavior of other people is done through
writing If an account is poorly written, the
reader has difficulty in comprehending it and
also tends unconsciously to lower his estima-
tion of the writer’s authority Good writing
IS therefore effective writing

The essenhal abilities for a clear and con-
cise written message are classified here into
(i) English, (2) spelling, and (3) hand-
writing A section in this project is de-
voted to a discussion of diagnostic and
remedial procedures for each of these di-
visions

A. English

Knowledge of language form is basic to
good writing If a writer chooses effecbve
words and presents them m correct English
form, one is able to read right along Train-
ing in this field is usually the province of
English courses and taking anotlier lesson
in English may seem rather boring The
purpose of tins unit, however, is to provide
a description of each student’s abilities Such
an analysis usually shows that a student isn’t
generally poor at grammar or punctuation,
but rather that most of his difficulty is due
to a few rather specific errors Two or three
rules do not seem difficult to master, so a
student is more motivated to attack such an
apparently simple problem

Self-Evaluation

The area of English is divided into the
following diagnostic divisions grammar, cap-

italization, punctuation, and sentence struc-
ture Tests to measure your skills m these
areas are given on pages 223-232 in Appen-
dix I These tests do not represent a random
sampling of all the many rules of English
but are based on the 40 rules which research
has shown are most frequently used and
cause the most trouble in writing Every
item, therefore, deals with an important
point

Follow the directions printed on the tests.
When these tests are completed, correct
them and then translate their scores into
percenhle ranks by using Table 7 below.

Table 7 Percentile Ranlcs on English Survey
Tests

%ile

Gram-

Capitali-

zation

Punc-

tuation

Sen-

tence

Struc-

ture

100

80

80

80

80

96

78

78

75

78

90

76

76

70

76

85

74

74

68

73

80

73

72

62

70

75

72

71

58

67

70

71

70

55

64

65

70

69

53

61

60

69

68

51

59

66

67

67

48

67

50

65

66

45

65

45

62

65

42

54

40

69

64

39

53

35

66

63

36

52

30

63

62

33

51

26

49

60

30

49

20

45

68

27

47

15

41

66

24

45

10

37

63

20

43

5

33

50

16

40

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT VIII

Wiite these percentiles in their respective
places in the following summary list Since
choice of words is an important aspect of
good writing, also write in your percentile
from the General Vocabulary Test which
you took in the preceding project

Grammar

%ile rank

Capitalization

. %ile rank

Punctuation

. %ile rank

Sentence

Structure

%ile rank

Vocabulary

%ile rank

Tire percentile ranks indicate your stand-
ing relative to otlier students, but what is
the nature of the specific errors tliat you
make? Since a student’s errors tend to “con-
stellate” m certain areas, the extent of his
remedial work may be limited In order to
find these areas, the following procedure is
suggested Each tune you mark a wrong
answer, copy the symbol^ (Si, C6, etc)
which IS beside the answer on tlie key. This
symbol refers to the rule which has been
violated and will expedite your looking it
up in the rule section which follows Since
each of die test items, correctly written, has
been placed under the rule indicated by the
symbol, you can tabulate your errors quite
easily Merely check under the rule the cor-
rect form for each item you missed When
this checking is completed, a glance at die
list of rules will show where the errors tend
to “constellate” If you master these few
rules, your performance should show marked
improvement

Organizational skill and style of writing
are also important in effective writing These
were discussed in part in Project V, Prepar-
ing Reports, further help can be obtained

’■The meaning of these symbols is as follows
G stands for grammar, C for capitalizafaon, P for
punctuation, and S for sentence structure The
numbers refer to specific rules under each of these
headings Thus G5 refers to the fifth rule under the
Grammar heading which says that the verb “to be”
should agree with the subject and not with the
predicate noun

from your English instructor This project
deals only with certain mechanics of English
One furdier point Tliese tests tend to
measure your peak performance, but many
students do not use their full skill m every-
day class work Various essays and examina-
tions tiiat you have written should also be
analyzed to determine the errors you make
in such writing

RULES OF ENGLISH *
Grammar

A Verb Agrees in Number With Its Subject
1. A subject composed of two or more
nouns (either singular or plural) joined by
and requires a plural veib A subject com-
posed of two or more singular nouns joined
by or or nor requires a singular verb

12 Neither Martha nor John is older
than I

16 Algebra and geometry have been easy
for me

28 Neither Jane nor I was able to play
basketball

31 Basketball and baseball are what I am
going to take

. . 76 Either dramatics or athletics is going
to he my specialty

%. The number of the verb is not deter-
mined by a noun or pronoun which inter-
venes between the subject and tlic verb

25 Tlie price of supplies is high
55 The price of the tickets was two dol-
lars

3 Tlie number of the verb is not changed
by adding to the subject words introduced
by with, together with, as well as, like, etc

. 63 Tire referee, like the other officials,

was dressed m white
69 Mary, as well as the other girls, has
asked me to tell about the game

® Adapted from tlie pamphlet, "Student’s Hand-
book of Essentials,” published by the Ohio State
Department of Education and used with permission.

WRITING SKILLS

4. There is or there are should be used ac-
cording to the number of the subject which
follows

56 There were about 50,000 people there,
72 There are several reasons

77 There are several things to choose
from

Another example There is a man at
the door

5. The verb to be should agree with its sub-
ject and not with its predicate noun

17 The greater part of the curriculum is
English subjects

23 Tlie weakest part of our school is tlie
materials in the laboratones

78 Sports are tlie best part of any school

6 The verb does or doesn’t is used with a
third person singular subject

10 Jack doesn’t remembei the other
schools

22 Mardaa, doesn’t go to school.
32 Jane doesn’t go to school
75 The curriculum doesn’t matter so
much to us

7. The pronouns each, every, everyone,
everybody, anyone, anybody, either, neither,
no one, nobody demand a singular verb Tlic
word most when used in such phrases as
"most of us,” “most of them” demands a
plural verb

2 Each of us pupils greets the teacher
1 5 Each of us was told to register
35 Most of us have a very good time
playing basketball
51 Most of us prefer the schools
71 No one in our crowd has seen a big
game

79 Everybody doesn’t agree with me.

Agreement and Case of Pronouns

8. Pronouns which refer to other nouns or
pronouns should have the same number
(Note especially that the pronouns listed m
No 7 above are singular.)

131

9 Teacher has told each one to do his
part

. 18 The greater part of the curriculum is

English subjects, which are very un-
interesting

39 No one wants her on his (her) team
58 Everyone shouted as loud as he could
61 Each player took his position

9. Pronouns have a different form when
used as the subject of a clause than when
used as the object of a verb or preposition
The following are some specific situations
which often cause trouble
a Wlien words come between the pro-
noun and the word which governs its
case

73 Our teacher told Mary and me
b, Wlien who and whom are used m the
fiist position m a sentence or clause

13 Tlie teacher wanted to know
who my father was
. 14 I told her whom I was liv-
ing with

c When tlie pronoun follows as or than
it has the same case as the noun or
pronoun with which it is compared

36 Jane is taller than I
. . 37 She used to play baseball better
than I

Another example I see him
moie often than her

d Wlien die pronoun follows the prepo-
sition like it must be in the objective
case

. 40 She IS fourteen, like Mary and

me

80 Mary prefers athletics, like
Frances and me.

e, Wlien a first person pronoun stands
widi a noun, it has the same case as
the noun

. 1 Each of us pupils greets the

teacher

. 45 We girls are going to the same

college

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROpiCT VHl

Tense of Verb

lo. The following verbs are frequently mis-
used, either because the wrong tense form
IS substituted or because a similar but un-
acceptable form IS substituted The past
participle is used with the auxiliary verb
“to have ”

Present

Past

Past Part

ask

asked

asked

attack

attacked

attacked

bear

bore

home

begin

began

begun

blow

blew

blown

break

broke

broken

burst

burst

burst

climb

climbed

climbed

come

came

come

do

did

done

drag

dragged

dragged

draw

drew

drawn

drink

drank

drunk

drown

drowned

drowned

freeze

froze

frozen

give

gave

given

go

went

gone

grow

grew

grown

hear

heard

heard

lead

led

led

ride

rode

ridden

ring

rang

rung

run

ran

run

see

saw

seen

show

showed

shown

shrink

shrank

shrunk

sing

sang

sung

speak

spoke

spoken

swing

swung

swung

take

took

taken

tear

tore

tom

throw

threw

thrown

use

used

used

wear

wore

worn

write

wrote

wntten

5. Sally and Richard have asked to oc-
cupy the seats

6 I have climbed into one of the seats
11 .the other schools that he has
gone to

. 21 My sister has given much time.

. 46 We have written to several colleges

47 We have begun to read
57 I had never seen so many people
59 Our team came on the field
65 He must have frozen
. 67 We sang songs
68 People threw confetti
70 Mary has asked me to tell

Differentiate Between Adjectives
and Adverbs

11. Be careful to distinguish between adjec-
tives and adverbs and to use the proper
form. In general, adjectives may be changed
to adverbs by the addition of -ly, although
there are such exceptions as “good,” an
adjective, and “well,” an adverb An adverb
IS used if it modifies a verb, an adjective, or
another adverb

4 John intends to do his work well
7 I can see easily now
20 I am surely weak m grammar
27. I shall consider the matter very care-
fully

34 I’ll be able to play basketball well
38 She plays so poorly.

. . 49 There are too many nice ones to
choose one very easily
. 60. The band played the college song very
softly

12 Verbs pertaining to the senses and the
verbs to grow, to become, are followed by
an adjective unless they indicate action.

. 24. Our principal feels bad
29 We never felt sad.

. 42. . . perfume that smells very sweet

Other examples. Mary grew hilari-
ous

The flowers grow
quickly

Words Confused

13. Tlie following words are commonly con-
fused

a. lie lay lam (to be m a stretched-out
position)

lay laid laid (to be placed in a re-
cumbent position)

WRITING SKILLS

He laid his hat on the table and lay
down to rest

b sit sat sat (to rest in a sitting posi-
tion)

set set set (to place in a position of
rest)

She set the basket in a corner and sat
down to talk

c let let let (to permit)
leave left left (to abandon)

The police let him go, and he left the
city

d can could (to be able or to be pos-
sible)

may might (to be permitted)

You may go if you can find someone
to go with you

e a (used before words beginning with a
consonant)

an (used before words beginning with
a vowel or vowel sound)
an uncle, a hat, an onion, a cup
f there (adverb)
their (pronoun)
they’re (contraction of they are)
They’re going to buy their hats there
g to (preposition, or sign of infinitive)
two (adjective or noun)
too (adverb)

He was too sick to go to school for the
last two days

h teach (to instruct or give knowledge)
learn (to acquire knowledge)

He teaches quite effectively, as a result
his pupils learn a great deal

. . 3 Mary, John, and Annabelle sat

m the front row

.... 19 The teacher can’t teach me Eng-
lish at all

. 26 The principal won’t let me drop

chemistry

. . 33 She likes to he around

... 41 She wears such pretty clothes,
too

. . .43 Mother won’t let me have any
perfume

44 She said, though, that I might
buy some next year

. . .48 There are almost too many nice
ones.

, . 52 Students have a better fame
there

53 They have football games, too
. 62 The substitutes sat down on the

bench

... 74 They have interesting courses
there.

Capitalization

1. First Words Capitalize the first word of
the following (a) every sentence, (b) every
line of poetry, (c) every complete gram-
matical statement (independent clause)
following a colon, (d) every direct quota-
tion Do not capitalize the first word of a
quotation which is only a fragment of a
sentence, or die first word of an indirect
quotation

a This sentence illustrates the first rule
b My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow m the sky
c The questions were as follows What is
an erg? What is a dyne?
d Annie said, 'T think you should go to
bed”

“I think,” Annie said, “you should go to
bed”

Annie said that you should go to bed
Stevenson called man “the disease of die
agglutinated dust”

2 She exclaimed, "What a beauti-
ful lakel”

a. Names of Persons Capitalize the names
of persons and the titles standing for the
names of persons Capitalize derivatives of
these names Do not capitalize the names
of professions or professional ranks

. 6 "Tell me what Doctor Hams did,”

said Emily

7 “If that’s all,” John said, “we may as
well go ”

. 12 A 1 Smith, the Democratic candidate,

was defeated

. . 21. The nng is an heirloom, it belonged
to Jenny Lind.

23 Esther, Jane, and Mary organized a
girls’ club

28 Sinclair Lewis wrote these books
. .34 He read Tennyson’s famous poem,
“In Memoriam.”

1 EFFECTIVE

35 A careful description of Captain
Evans was given

42 It's too bad Gerry can’t go with
us

46 The various codes were submitted to
General Johnson

47 He said that he saw the Prince of
Wales

48 “Please come,” she wrote, “Colonel
Brown will be here ”

49 Joe IS not going, nor is Sally

56 "You should talk to Professor Brown,”
she advised

62 “Tliat youngster,” said Coach Jones,
“will be a star ”

63 It’s raining hard, but Jim won’t stay
home

71 You may take tins note to Mr Adams

72 Joseph Conrad is the autlior of Lord
Jim

73 To be frank, she doesn’t like Janice
very well

78 Mary, you may describe General
Pershing’s plan

79 to see what Mrs Jones is wear-
ing

80 The play was almost over when John
left

3. Names of Places Capitalize die names
of countries, states, cities, streets, buildings,
mountains, rivers, oceans, or any word des-
ignating a particular location or part of the
world. Capitalize derivatives of these names
Do not capitalize the points of the compass
or such terms as street, river, ocean when
not part of a name

1 Are you going to Stiassburg, Ger-
many?

3 The tiudson, a river in New York, is
very beaubful

4 Do you expect to visit China or
Ceylon?

5 Three weeks from now we’ll be in
Kansas City

9 Why do so many people blame the
Germans?

11 She lives at 25 V/hitber Street,
Dolby, Kentucky

13 He attended Tate College, then he
went to a law school

STUDY PROJECT VIU

14 My subjects include the following
history, English, and Latin

17 He had started to Newberg, there was
no retreat

18 She intended to visit Mount Baker

19 I think French a boring subject but
like physics

24 Tlie letter was sent from Detroit

30 If you see any American tourists, let
me know

32 John finished his Spanish, then he
worked on biology

37 We didn't have time to visit the Alps,
still we saw almost every other part of
Europe

39 He claims that the government is as
corrupt as in the days of Rome

45 On Sunday we went fishing m Beaver
Creek

55 We saw the Capitol at Washington

58 One of us must go to Lisbon

60 You’ll find it easier to go by way of
Athens

74 They went to Washington, to Oregon,
and on to California

.76 We drove to St Louis and then took
a quaint old steamer down the Mis-
sissippi River

4. Names of Organizations Capitalize the
names of business firms, schools, societies,
clubs, and other organizations Capitalize
derivatives of these names Do not capitalize
such words as coinjiany, school, society,
when not part of a name

12 A 1 Smith, the Democrabc candidate,
was defeated

16 In die first place, the Ku Klux Klan
was not legal

. 26 Will the Socialist Party ulbmately

succeed?

. 38 His wife is a Presbyterian, he is a Bap-

bst

40 The National Railway Association
should recognize that this type of
engine will not pay

41 The Lincoln School has been over-
crowded for some time

. 30 In other words, tlie General Electne

Company refused my offer

54 The Unemployed League will meet
tomorrow

WRITING SKILLS 135

59 he wants to enter Harvard Col-
lege next year

67 He told me to meet him at the
Seneca Hotel

68 she was elected to the Martha
Washington Club

69 we’ll put the money m the
Chase Bank

75 She resigned from the Missionary So-
ciety

5 Days, Weeks, Months, etc Capitalize
the days of the week, the months of the
year, holidays, and church festivals Do not
capitalize the names of the seasons unless
they are personified

. , 8 Friday, the tenth of June, was my

birthday

10 It was the Fourth of July, a national
holiday

24 The letter was sent from Detroit on
August 8, 1933

25 Christmas, Memorial Day, and
Thanksgiving are holidays

45 On Sunday we went fishing in Beaver
Creek

57 She said she played no card games
during Lent

64 June, July, and August are vacation
months

79 One goes to church on Easter

6. Titles. Capitalize the first word and all
other important words in titles (and sub-
titles and headings) of themes, magazine
articles, poems, books, of laws and govern-
mental documents, of pictures, statues,
musical compositions, and m trade names
Always capitalize the first and last words

20 This poem is called “In the Cool of
the Night ”

27 I use Detoxal, it is a good toothpaste

28 Sinclair Lewis wrote these books
Dodswoith, Babbitt, and Arrowsmith

33 “By a Waterfall” is a simple little
piece to play

34 He read Tennyson’s famous poem,
“In Memoriam ”

. 36. She recommends Gold Dust for clean-

ing.

, 52 “I’m in a Hurry” is the name ot an

amusing short story

53 You will like these movies Cimarron
and Masquerade

66 you may have the Chevrolet

70 I’ll send you a subscription to the Lit-
erary Digest

72 Joseph Conrad is the author of Lord
Jim, he also wrote Victory.

Punctuation

1. Use a period, question mark, or exclama-
tion point at the end of a sentence.

1 Are you going to Strassburg, Ger-
many?

2 She exclaimed, “What a beautiful
lakel”

4 Do you expect to visit China and
Ceylon?

... 9 Why do so many people blame the
Germans?

. 26 Will the Socialist Party ultimately
succeed?

58 One of us must go to Lisbon, which
will it be?

2. Use a period after an abbreviation and
after each initial

71 You may take this note to Mr Adams

76 We drove to St Louis

... 79 to see what Mrs Jones is wear-
ing

3. Use commas to set off parenthetic words,
phrases, and clauses. That is, set off such
elements as interrupt the sequence of the
thought or do not form an essential part
of the sentence Among these are introduc-
tory words and phrases, interjections, words
of address, apposibves, loosely modifying
phrases and clauses, and the like Do not use
superfluous commas If in doubt, leave the
comma out

3 The Hudson, a river in New York, is
very beautiful

. 8 Friday, the tentli of June, was my

birthday,

, 10 It was the Fourth of July, a national

holiday.

1 26 EFFECTIVE

. 12 A 1 Smith, the Democratic candidate,

was defeated

22 The captain, our old friend, met us at
the dock

34 He read Tennyson’s poem, “In Me-
monam ’’

78 Mary, you may descnbe General
Pershing's plan

4. Use a comma to set off clearly introduc-
tory ideas at the beginning of a sentence or
obviously added elements at the end.

16 In the first place, the Ku Klux Klan
was not legal

. 30 If you see any Amencan tounsts, let

me know

36 She recommends Gold Dust for clean-
ing, since it IS cheaper
. 50 In other words, the General Electnc

Company refused my offer
, 66 If it’s really necessary, you may have
the Chevrolet

68 Being capable and socially prominent,
she was elected

. . 70 I’ll send you a subscription to the Lit-
erary Digest, if you want it
. 73 To be frank, she doesn’t like Janice
very well

... 75 She resigned from the Missionary
Society, ffius losing many friends

5. Use commas to separate a series of words,
phrases, or clauses In a senes of more than
two parts, grammarians usually ask that a
comma precede the conjunction, although
some style books suggest that tire comma
before the conjunction be omitted.

. 14 My subjects include the following

history, English and Latin
, , , 23 Esther, Jane and Mary organized a
girl’s club

. .25 Christmas, Memorial Day and
Thanksgiving are holidays.

. 28 Sinclair Lewis wrote these books

Dodsworth, Babbitt and Aiiowsmitb.

39 He claims that the government is as
corrupt as in the days of Rome, that
there is no place for an honest man m
politics, and that there is little hope
tor reform

. .43 Oranges, lemons and grapefruit are
citrus fruits

STUDY PROJECT VIII

64 June, July and August are vacation
months

65 He wants someone who is quick, who
IS ambitious, and who has had experi-
ence

74 They went to Washington, to Oregon
and on to California
79 One goes to church on Easter to ease
one’s conscience, to wear one’s new
clothes, or to see what Mrs Jones is
wearing

6 . Ordinarily use a comma to separate
clauses joined by the conjunctions and, but,
for, or, nor if a change m subject takes place
or if the clauses are long Do not use a
comma, however, if the subject is not
changed or if it is not a clause that is joined

. . 15. They’re ready, but we’ll have to wait
awhile

. 19 I think French a boring subject but

like physics

31 He hurried on to die bank and asked
for the president

. . 35 A careful description of Captain
Evans was given, for he was an impor-
tant witness m the trial
. 47 He said that he saw the Prince of

Wales, but no one believed him
49 Joe is not going, nor is Sally

. . 55. We saw the Capitol at Washington,
and then the driver took us home
63 It’s raining hard, but Jim won’t stay
at home

. . 67 He told me to meet him at the Seneca
Hotel but he didn’t appear
76. We drove to St Louis and then took
a quaint old steamer down the Mis-
sissippi River.

7. Use commas to separate expressions like
“he said” from a direct quotation Indirect
quotations should not be so separated

.... 2. She exclaimed, “What a beautiful
lake!”

. . 6. “Tell me what Doctor Hams did,”
said Emily.

, . 7 “If that’s all,” John said, “we may as

well go.”

...r8. She said that she intended to visit
Mount Baker.

WRITING SKILLS

, 29 “We are,” said the speaker, "at the

dawn of a new era ”

44 She said that he would be glad to see
you

47 He said that he saw tlie Pnnce of
Wales, but no one believed him

48 “Please come,” she wrote, “Colonel
Brown will be here ”

56 “You should talk to Professor
Brown,” she advised

62 “Tliat youngster,” said Coach Jones,
“will be a star next year ”

69 "All right,” he said, “we’ll put the
money in the Chase Bank”

8. Use commas to separate the parts of a
date or an address.

1. Are you going to Strassburg, Ger-
many?

11 She lives at 2 5 Whittier Street, Dolby,
Kentucky

24 Tlie letter was sent from Detroit on
August 8, 1933.

9. Use a semicolon between the clauses of
a compound sentence when the clauses are
closely related in thought and not joined by
a conjunction A semicolon is usually used
where a period might be used, that is, be-
tween independent clauses.

17 He started to Newburg, there was no
retreat

. 21 The Ting is an heirloom, it belonged

to Jenny Lind

27 I use Detoxal, it is a good tooth paste

38 His wife IS a Presbyterian, he is a
Baptist

40 The National Railway Association
should recognize tliat this type of en-
gine will not pay, it is out of date
. 51 Its hair IS fine and soft, it’s still just a

puppy

. 58 One of us must go to Lisbon, which
will it be?

. 59 John makes high grades in mathemat-
ics, he wants to enter Harvard Col-
lege next year.

60. You’ll find it easier to go by way of
Athens, you’ll save twenty miles.

72 Joseph Conrad is the author of Lord
Jim, he also wrote Victoiy

10. Use a semicolon between clauses of a
compound sentence when the second clause
is introduced by so, then, however, thus,
hence, therefore, also, moreover, still, other-
wise, nevertlieless, accordingly, besides

. 13 He attended Tate College, then he

went to a law school
32 John finished his Spanish, then he
worked on biology

37. We didn’t have time to visit the
Alps, still we saw almost every other
part of Europe.

61. I’m too tired to go oul tonight, be-
sides it’s too cold

71 You may take this note to Mr Adams,
then drop these letters in the mailbox
77 I’ll take you in the car, otherwise
you’ll be late

11. Use a colon after a complete independ-
ent clause which formally introduces one
of the following, a list or enumeration, a
statement or question, or a long quotation

. 14 My subjects include the following

history, English and Latin
28. Sinclair Lewis wrote these books
Dodsworth, Babbitt, and Axrowsmiih
53 You will like these movies Cimarron
and Masquerade

13 . Use quotation marks to enclose all direct
quotations and all parts of direct quotations
that are divided

2 She exclaimed, “What a beautiful
lake!”

.... 6 “Tell me what Doctor Plarris did,”
said Emily.

, .7 “If that’s all,” John said, “we may as
well go”

29 “We are,” said the speaker, “at the
dawn of a new era”

48. “Please come,” she wrote, "Colonel
Brown will be here ”

. . 56 “You should talk to Professor
Brown,” she advised.

.62 “Tliat youngster,” said Coach Jones,
“will be a star next year ”

. .69 “All right,” he said, “we’ll put the
money in the Chase Bank ”

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROpiCT VIII

13. Use quotation marks to enclose tlie
titles of poems, short stones, essays, chapters
in books, or other parts of books, musical
compositions, pictures, statues Titles of
books, movies, newspapers, pamphlets, peri-
odicals, and poems of book length should
only be underlined or italicized.

20 This poem is called “In the Cool of
the Night ”

28 Sinclair Lewis wrote these books
Dodswoith, Babbitt, and Anowsmith

33 “By a Waterfall” is a simple little
piece to play

34 He read Tennyson’s poem, “In Me-
moriam ”

52 “I’m m a Hurry” is the name of an
amusing short story

53 You will like these movies Cimarron
and Masquerade

70 I’ll send you a subscription to the Lit-
erary Digest

72 Joseph Conrad is the author of Lord
Jm, he also wrote Victoiy

14. Use an apostrophe m contractions to
indicate omitted letters.

; we’ll . .

. 7 that’s . .

ij They’re . . we’ll . . .

37 . . . didn’t . .

. 42 It’s . can’t . . .

51 it’s

52. I’m . ,

54 o’clock

60 You’ll you’ll . .

. 61 I’m . it’s

,63 It’s won’t . . .

66 . . it’s

67 didn’t . .

69 . . . we’ll . . .

. 70 I’ll

. 73 doesn’t

77 I’ll you'll .

15. Use an apostrophe to indicate the pos-
sessive When the singular or plural form
does not end m s, add ’s When these end
m s, place an apostrophe after the s if there
IS no new syllable in pronunciation If a new

syllable occurs, add s Possessive pronouns,
its, hers, Ins, yours, ours, theiis, do not re-
qmre the apostrophe

23 Esdier, Jane, and Mary organized a
girl’s club

34 He read Tennyson’s famous poem,
“In Memonam ”

38 His wife is a Piesbytenan, he is a
Baptist

51 Its hair is fine and soft, it’s still just a
puppy.

78 Mary, you may describe General
Pershing’s plan

. 79 One goes to church on Easter to ease

one’s conscience, to wear one’s new'
spring clotlies, or to see what Mrs
Jones IS wearing

Other examples Dickens’ works
Jones’s house

Sentence Structure

1. A sentence should express a complete and
independent thought Do not write as a sen-
tence a group of words which are only part
of a sentence.

Which of the following examples in the test
did you miss? 6, 12, 21, 23, 26, 28, 33, 36, 39

3. A sentence should not contain superflu-
ous words which make the sentence cum-
bersome

Which of the following examples m the test
did you miss? 1, 13, 38

3. A series of thoughts loosely strung to-
gether by conjunctions is weak and ineffec-
tive Also avoid a series of short choppy
sentences when expressing a closely unified
idea.

Whidi of the following examples in tire test
did you miss? 3, 9, 16, 19

4. The reference of phrases and modifiers
should be unmistakably and immediately
clear. Normally they should be next to the
part modified.

WRITING SKILLS

Which of the following examples in the test
did you miss? 4, 7, 8, 17, 22, 27, 30, 35

5 The reference of a pronoun to its ante-
cedent should be unmistakably and im-
mediately clear Pronouns should be close
enough to their antecedents so that there is
no possibility of misunderstanding

Which of the following examples in the test
did you miss? 2, 3, 10, 18, 20, 29, 37, 40

Program for Improvement
The above analysis probably shows that
work on only a few rules will raise your
percentile rank quite a few points. On the
other hand, you have been many years build-
ing your present language habits, so it will
take definite and specific practice on your
part to substitute correct language habits for
these few types of errors. Not only must you
know a rule, but you must also practice
using it

6. Give parallel structure to those parts of
a sentence which are parallel in thought.

Which of the following examples in the test
did you miss? 11, 14, 15, 23, 24, 31, 32, 34

Summary of Principles Violated Most Often
List below, as a senes of phrases, the rules
which you missed most often on these tests
These should form the primary basis for
your remedial efforts.

The following remedial suggestions are
made

1 Study the rules causing you the most
difficulty

2 Substitute die correct form for each
of the errors that you have made

3 Make a special effort to practice using
the correct form in your everyday writing

4 Regularly reread what you have written
and look for instances where these few rules
occur, correct any errors.

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT VIII

5 Have your counselor and teachers indi-
cate incorrect forms which you use in your
writing, then proceed to correct them.

6 Wlien in doubt, use a source book on
grammar

Work haid in your English courses to
remedy your difficulty. If your problem is
extreme, you may wish to enioll in the spe-
cial remedial English section which many
colleges provide

The primary consideration in improve-
ment, however, is your own desire to im-
prove, only this will lead you to be careful
m your writing and to seek further practice

Useful source books on grammar include.

J C Hodges, Harbrace Handbook of Eng-
lish, Harcourt, Brace, 1941 A complete
handbook discussing all aspects of writing

E S Jones, Practice Handbook in English,
Appleton-Century, 1935 An excellent
dnllbook for further practice

P G Perrin, An Index to English, Scott,
Foresman, 1939 Very good Problems in
English presented in alphabetical order for
easy reference.

C Stratton, Handbook of English, McGraw-
Hill, 1940 Specific words, constmctions,
grammatical terms, idioms, etc, arranged
alphabetically Can be used as a dictionary
to check on specific questions

B Spelling

A student’s occasional misspellings are
important because their odd appearance
distracts the reader’s attention from the
message and because people tend to judge
the writer’s cultural training on the basis of

these errors For example, many otherwise
well-trained men have failed to obtain jobs
because of misspellings in letters of applica-
tion. Correct spelling is a skill which should
have been learned before reaching college,
but many students have not— as evidenced
by die norms below Furthermore, spelling
ability doesn’t tend to increase during the
college years unless specific remedial steps
are taken®

Self-Evaluation

A spelling test, based on the 228 most
frequently misspelled words as determined
by combining several lists of common spell-
ing errors, will be found in Appendix I on
pages 233-241 This test is difficult in the
sense that it consists only of “spelling
demons” On the other hand, since each
word also fits the criterion of being fre-
quently used, a student should be able to
spell practically all of them correctly (A
student may well omit learning any of the
228 words which he seldom, if ever, uses—
looking them up in a dictionary takes less
time ) When the test is completed, the key
will be found on pages 258-260. Your success
on the test (number nght) may be judged
against the following norms for college
freshmen; but more important, you should
be able to spell all these words which you
use frequently.

®G W Hartmann, Tlie constancy of spelling
ability among undergraduates, J Educ Res, 1931,
24 303-305

Lowest Q

3rd Quarter

Top Quarter

WRITING SKILLS 141

To facilitate this study, use tlie space
below to write the correct spelling of each
of the words missed on this test

142 EFFECTIVE STUDY

You may also misspell other words which
you use frequently This is especially true
of technical terms which are frequently used
in your courses Make a list below of these
other words which are misspelled on your
papers during the school term.

PROJECT vin

WRITING SKILLS

Program for Improvement
You should study the correct spelling of
each of the words written m the spaces
above Tire most effective study method is
actually to try spelling these words, don’t
]ust look at the list Try visualizing the
words (m eveiy detail) on a flat surface m
front of you, then look at the word to clear
up any part that wasn’t clearly visualized
Try spelling these words aloud or try writing
them out Above all, do not avoid these
words m your everyday writing, make a
special effort to use them correctly spelled
Two additional ways to improve spelling
have been suggested locating the “hard
spots” m words, and learning spelling rules
In many instances tliese methods have
tended to involve more work than tlicy were
worth, but if they seem particularly appli-
cable to many of your errors, it will be wortli
while for you to study this material further
An analysis of spelling errors of college
students showed that 90 per cent of the mis-
spelled words had only one hard spot/ Thus
a misspelled woid should not be considered
entirely wrong Each of your misspellings
should be analyzed to find the letter com-
bination which needs particular attention
Furthermore, two-thirds of college students’
misspellings were found to represent pho-
netic substitutions (other letters with tire
same sounds) or phonetic renditions of mis-
pronunciations Be suie you know the cor-
lect pronunciation of the words you misspell
and pay particular attention to the places
m the word which cause difficulty Some-
times a little story or word game can be
made up to help with these hard spots, e g ,
remember the “sm” in “business "

The second approach is to learn spelling
rules so as to have guides when spelling
Tire difficulty here is tliat most spelling rules

^ T G Alper, A diagnostic spelling scale for the
college level, its construction and use, J Educ
Psych , 1942, 33 273-290

have so many e'?ceptions that many people
feel it IS easier not to botlier, 1 e , they just
study the word in its correct form The fol-
lowing seven rules, however, cover many
spelling demons and have few exceptions ®
Many “spelling errors” aie actually failures
to follow rules of capitalization (see Sec-
tion A of this project) If many of your
spelling errors are examples for some of
these rules, these particular rules aie well
worth further study

1. Most nouns form then plurals by adding
s or es to the singular Es is added to
make tire word easier to pronounce

Examples car, cars

pass, passes
push, pushes
porch, porches

2 Drop the final e before adding a suffix
beginning with a vowel

Examples ndc. Tiding

believe, believing

3 When final y is preceded by a consonant,
change y to 1 before adding any suffix
drat does not begin witli 1

Examples satisfy, satisfied, satisfying
enjoy, enjoyable

4 Q is always followed by u

Examples quiet, quick, quiver, quail

5 I before e
Except after c

Or when sounded as a
As m neighbor and weigh

Examples, diet, receive, neigh
6. The sound of i at the end of a word is
usually spelled by the letter y

Examples many, very, heavy, steady
7 With words of one syllable and with
words accenting the last syllable and end-
ing in one consonant preceded by one
vowel, you double the final consonant

G Foran, The Psychology and Teaching of
Spelling, Catholic Education Press, 1934, I C Sar
tonus, Generalization in spelling, Teach Coll
Contn Educ , 1931, No 472

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT Vm

when adding a suffix beginning with a

vowel

Examples, fun, funny

omit, omitted

Many words are so infrequently used that
it is not worth while to learn to spell them.
And a student may occasionally expenence
a block in spelling words which he usually
knows. In such instances, reach for a dic-
tionary or ask a friend For further informa-
tion on use of the dictionary, see Section C
of Project VII.

Additional information on learning to
spell, eg., the value of other rules and of
knowledge of word roots, can be found in
the following references

J C Hodges, Harbrace Handbook of Eng-
lish, Harcourt, Brace, 1941 Pages 176-
190

E S Jones, Practice Handbook in English,
Appleton-Century, 1940 Pages 163-174

F Tnggs and E W Robbins, Improve Your
Spelling, Farrar & Rinehart, 1944

C Handwriting®

Experimental studies have shown that
even though a teacher may endeavor not to
count legibility of handwriting in his
grading he actually will give higher marks
for the more legible writing ’’ Legible hand-
writing makes for easier and more pleasant
reading and is more convincing to the reader

Many college students write so poorly
(especially under pressure of speed m
writing notes or quizzes) that instructors
have difficulty in grading the papers. Two
studies show that the average quality or
legibility of college seniors’ handwriting is
below that of the average eighth-grader®

® Widi slight modificabon, from S L Pressey and
M E Troyer, Laboratory Workbook m Applied
Educational Psychology, Harper, 1945 Used with
permission

H. W. James, The effect of handwnting upon
grading, Engl J, 1927, 16 180-185

® G E Hill, The handwnting of college seniors,
J Educ Res,, 1943, 37 118-126, W G. Wixted

Indeed, a student may occasionally even be
unable to read his own writing The purpose
of the following exercise is to show how you
may locate your most serious writing faults
and deal with them. It will demonstrate
how the difficulties of a particular individual
usually center around a few recurring errors.

Wilting IS intended to be read In consid-
enng the quality of a piece of handwriting,
and still more in consideiing what faults in
it may be serious and need attention, the
practical approach is to determine what fea-
tures of that writing interfere with ease and
accuracy in reading it.

The chart below shows the result of re-
search along this line A large number of
samples of handwriting of children, college
students, and adults were gone over, the
readers checking every place where they had
any difficulty (even though only momen-
tary) in reading what had been written. The
places checked were then returned to, and
the illegibilities analyzed and classified
These results were then brought together,
and the most common illegibilities tlius de-
termined You will notice that certain gen-
eral characteristics cause trouble (such as
crowding words together), but most diffi-
culties are due to writing one letter so that
it looks somewhat like another— writing d
like cl, a like u, or r like an undotted i With
this chart before you, you can, much more
easily than otherwise, locate and classify
troublesome points m any piece of writing.
Further experiment has shown that when
such highly specific difficulties are located
and effort is directed specifically toward the
elimination of the few most common illegi-
bilities, improvement in handwriting is rela-
tively easily achieved.®

and P R V Curoe, How well do college seniors
wnte? School and Soc , 1941, 54 505-508

® H Lehman and L C Pressey, The effecbveness
of dnll m hindwnbng to remove specific illegibih-
bes. School and Soc , 1928, 27 546-548; W S
Guiler, Improving handwnbng ability, Elem Sob /.,
1930, 30'56-62.

WRITING SKILLS

M5

ERROR ANALYSIS CHART

Illegibility Frequency

Words crowded

Too angular

Rewriting

Words broken

Loops long

a like u

a ” 0

a ” 01

b ” Ii

c ” e

d » cl

e closed

e too high

g like y

h ” h

h ” P

h " b

h ”1

1 ” e

Dot misplaced

k like h

1 closed

1 too short

m like w

n ” u

n ” V

0 " a

0 ” r

0 closed

r like 1

r half n

r half u

s indistinct

s bke r

t » 1

Cross omitted
Cross misplaced
M like N

W like IJ

1 like cl

Other illegibilities

Explanations

Words crowded — ^too little space between words,
so that word divisions are not readily seen
Words broken — Breaks between parts of words
so that word and syllable divisions are confused
Loops long — such letters as y and g reach down
into the line below or h and I into the line above
e closed — e hke undotted i
I closed — I like uncrossed t
h like p — ^the mam difficulty here is a pro-
longation of the mam down-stroke of the h
r like half n — most hkely m such combina-
tions as rr like n

r hke undotted i — especially in such combina-
tions as n like u

s indistinct — ^mcomplete forms coming at the
end of a word

t hke I — ^involves also omission or misplace-
ment of cross bar

Total

Two most common

146 EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT Vlli

Self-Evaluation illegibilities, and write this figure in the

Self-evaluation procedure is simple

1 Bring to class some sample of your
handwriting at least 500 words long, written
under ordinary conditions or under pres-
sure of speed, as m writing a quiz or taking
notes Count the number of words from
the beginning until you have 500, make a
heavy cross after the five-hundredtli word
Then have some other student who is not
familiar with your writing read quickly over
the material up to the cross, tell him to un-
derline (not mark over) any letter, com-
bination of letters, or place which caused
even momentary difficulty m reading (Tins
project will be done m class ) The grader
should keep in mind, however, that he is not
to mark angularities, irregularities, or pecu-
liarities, or writing which makes the appear-
ance unattractive or unusual as long as they
do not interfere with reading Tire analysis
IS for illegibility, not beauty. In case of
doubt a place should not be marked Tlie
marked places should represent real hin-
drances to easy reading

2 In consultation with the reader, so
that you may know what his difficulties in
reading were, go over these maiked places,
and determine m each instance what spe-
cific feature of your writing caused trouble
As you proceed, make a tabulation mark on
the error analysis chart Thus if the first
difficulty was a like u, put a mark beside this
item, if the next illegibility was due to
crowding words together at the end of a
line, put a tally mark after "words crowded”,
if the next was another a like u, put another
mark after this item If you find an illegi-
bility not listed in the chart, wnte it on one
of the lines at the bottom of the chart, and
put a tally mark after it.

3. Count the number of marks after each
item and wnte these numbers to the nght.
Then add, giving the total number of your

"total” row

4 Didw a circle around die figures for
youi two most common illegibilities How
many of your total illegibilities are due to
these two? Write the number in the row
maiked "two most common.” If you were to
cure yourself of these two most common
faults, what proportion of the total number
of your illegibilities would you dispose of?

5 In actual practice the handwriting of
the average student will receive about 27
checks per 500 words Student scribbling,
however, is not a high standard toward
which to aim A much better goal is to try
to write so that your handwriting causes
little or no difficulty in reading Illegibilities
should be reduced to a minimum.

Program for Improvement

Have you found that only a few letter
forms are causing most of the difficulty? If
so, a little care in forming these few letters
will do a gieat deal toward improving your
handwriting You will have to try this in all
writing situations, however, if you are to
expect improvement in your everyday writ-
ing Make it a regular practice to proofread
your writing in order to correct illegibilities
And finally, have anothei person check later
samples of your handwriting for illegibilities
so that you may have a measure of improve-
ment and a further indication of remaining
errors

To facilitate your remembering to be care-
ful in your writing, indicate below which
letters you will try to improve.

PROJECT IX

MATHEMATICS

Mathematical opeiations are basic in
solving problems and doing laboratory work
in most subjects Many students, however,
are not proficient even in some of the
most elementary skills Thus Arnold found
that lo per cent of entering freshmen were
unable to do a single one of twenty prob-
lems m long division, i8 per cent could not
multiply common fractions, and 20 per cent
could not divide decimal fractions ^

Self-Evaluation

If there is a need for mathematics m any
of your courses, the following test should be
taken to point out places needing remedia-
tion This test IS based on analyses of the
mathematical skills winch are most fre-
quently used in college subjects and which
teachers consider essential for work in these
fields Because of the bases used for selecting
the test items, a student should get every
one correct If a student misses both ex-
amples of a given process, he should give

J Arnold, The standing of college studenb
in two elementary school subjects, Research Adven-
tures in University Teaching, Public School Publ
Co, 1929 , pp 107 - 112 , see also G M Wilson
and M B Kite, Arithmetic deficiencies, / Higher
Educ, 1943 , 14 321-322

definite remedial attention to it Tlie key
for this test is on page 246 in Appendix II

Number right

Program for Improvement

Any error made represents an item that
you should know Rather tlian being “alto-
gether poor” in mathematics you have prob-
ably found that just a few processes are
giving you difficulty With such specific
diagnostic information, your remedial efforts
can be effectively focused on particular dif-
ficulties If you have great difficulty with
this test or with other aspects of mathe-
matics and these areas are necessary in your
work, you probably ought to enroll m a
basic mathematics course m order to obtain
this background

Since elementary chemistry is one of the
common places where students have dif-
ficulty because of mathematics, the follow-
ing reference may be of help m explaining
the necessary mathematics for chemistry
problems

P R Frey, An Outline of Mathematics for
General Chemistry, Barnes and Noble,
1944, 3rded, 143 pp

BASIC SKILLS IN MATHEMATICS

(1) 448 (2) 484 (3) 27831 (4) 73821 (5) 2784 ( 6 ) 4287

372 273 - 9246 - 6249 X 385 X 37 9

981 189

365 563

( 9 ) i + i

(10) f + i

(7) 17157-;- 86

( 8 ) 22989 - 79

148

(11) f - 1

(12) f - f

r X|

9 20 4- 16 •
0026 + 1 8

(13)

(17)

(18)

(19)

(20) 2 - 1 7058
(23) 0036 - 1 2

EFFECTIVE STUDY

<14) f X i

(15) i-i

(16) f - i

PROJECT VIII

■ 0071 + 1 275 + 7265
+ 2478 + 86 + 1 002

1-18

(21) 3 702 X 207

(22) 1 008 X 074

(25) What % IS 5 of 8?

(26) What % is 12 of 17?

(24) 3 05 - 61

(27) How IS 20% wiitten as a common fraction?

(28) How IS 50% written as a common ft action?

(29) How IS 20% written as a decimal fraction?

(30) How IS 50% written as a decimal fraction?

(31-35) Write the squares of the following numbers from memory

(36) 1| X 8 =

11

(37) X 16 =
(39) 110% of 10 =

Reduce these expressions to their simplest forma by cancellation and then express their answeis as
decimals to two places.

(40)

5 X 7 X 44 _

50 X 77 ~ •

S X 5 6 X 0 77

1 1 X 1 12 X 140
In the followmg proportions, fill in the
(44) I = xV
(46) f ^

560 ^

terms

(45) f = A
(47) A =

The next three problems deal with simple relations in chemistry for which the following sample can
act as a model. These are problems m proportion just hke the ones above
C + O2 CO2

12 2 X 16 = 32 12 + 32 = 44 (These numbers underneath show the atomic weights and re-

sulting molecular weight of CO2 The ratio of carbon entering
CO2 to the total weight produced is -jf , that of 0 is )

(48) If the reaction is begun with 36 grams of C, how much CO2 will be produced?

That IS,

12g_ 3

’ 44 g ~ ? g
(49) How many g of 0 will be used to produce this?

(60) If it IS desired to produce 88 g of CO2, how much C will be needed?

PART THREE

PROBLEM AREAS INDIRECTLY AFFECTING EFFECTIVE STUDY

Tlie pioblems discussed in the following proj-
ects, while not directly related to study sblls,
tend to decrease college efEciency by lowenng
general efficiency or by distracting the student
from his work Students whose health is poor
work less efficiently and are distraught by wor-
ries concerning tlicir physical condition Stu-
dents who have not made a definite vocational
decision may not be highly motivated, tliey
often worry lest, when they do make this

decision, their present effort will have been
wasted Students who feai they lack social
status among their fellows, or who are worried
about more personal problems, are usually so
upset that their work suffers Tlie solution of
these problems is worth while in itself, and it
will also permit more effective study Tliese
problem areas are therefore the topics of
projects in this section.

*49

PROJECT X

HEALTH AND HEALTH HABITS

Tlie value of good health is recognized by
everyone Poor health can be the basis for
inefSciency or outright failure in college.
Without good health one may lose that
zest for living which mates for success, per-
sonal happiness, and social adjustment, and
one may have in its place only discomfort
and inertia.

Surveys of the population indicate tliat
many people have health problems for which
little has been done because of indifference
or lack of awareness of tire problems. Be-
cause of this, your college maintains a well-
organized health service for your benefit—
to point out your problems and to give cor-
rective aid You should make use of it This
project will not attempt to suggest remedial
health procedures to you, that advice should
come from health authorities However, tins
project does include several means of aiding
you in thinking about your health problems,
the counselor will assist you in arranging for
conferences with any of the health services.

Health Status

1 Do you know the results of your physi-
cal examination on entering college? Were
any suggestions made at that time? You can

find out by inquiring at the college’s health
service Do you know the results of your
other health examinations such as hearing
and postuie tests?

2 Have you had a complete physical ex-
amination lately? Every person should have
such a checkup at regular intervals no mat-
ter how well he feels— potential causes of ill
health may be detected and cured If you
have not, it would be well to see your family
physician for a checkup. Tlae cost is usually
not very great

3 Tlie Betts or Snellen Vision Tests are
general tests for finding those people who
may need further examination by an eye
specialist. Recommendations for glasses can-
not be made on the basis of diese tests, but
they are a means of determining quickly
whetlier you ought to have further testing
If you want to take such a test, ask the
counselor to give it to you.

4 The following health questionnaire is
useful in directing your thinking about
health problems that you have had Check it
according to the directions. It is “normal”
to check several, and interpretation should
be made only in consultation with yout
counselor

HEALTH AND HEALTH HABITS

153

HEALTH QUESTIONNAIRE!

S L Pressey and M E Troyer
Ohio State University

Total Crosses

Name . . Sex M F Date

Directions Below is a list of common ailments and symptoms, physical handicaps, undesirable
health habits, or conditions affecting health For your convemence in considermg them, the items
have been loughly grouped You are to put a cross before each symptom, ailment, habit, or handicap
you have had within the past twelve months Put two crosses before each one which has been acute
or caused you much concern Begm at once Be as accurate as you can If you are uncertain about a
symptom, do not mark it

Symptoms, Diseases, and Handicaps

16 sinus trouble

17 hay fever

1 pain m the eyes
. 2 headache after reading

3 watering of the eyes

4 difficulty m seemg clearly at a distance

5 blurring or moving of letters when

reading

6 spots before eyes

7 deafness

8 earache or pain back of ears
9. discharging ears

Respiratory

10 frequent or continuing colds

11 chronic cough

12 nosebleed

13 tonsilhtis

. 14 bronchitis

16 frequent discharge in throat
Do not stop Turn over the page and contmue work

18 asthma

Digestive

19 chrome or fiequent indigestion

20 poor appetite

21 coated tongue

22 bad breath

23 gas in stomach

24 pam or buimng sensations m stomach

25 attacks of nausea

26 attacks of vomiting

27 mtostmal cramps

28 diarrhea

29 constipation

30 piles or hemorrhoids

31 appendicitis

1 From S L Pressey and M E Troyer, Laboratory Worlcbooh tn
1946, used With permission.

Applied Educational Psychology, Harper,

54

EFFECTIVE STUDY

PROJECT X

Nervous

32 chorea or St Vitus’s dance

33 slowness and sluggishness

34 clironic fatigue

35 moodiness or depression

36 tenseness, inabihty to lelax

37 difficulty in concentration

39 nervousness and jumpiness

40 habitual daydreaming

41 stuttering or stammering

42 marked forgetfulness

43 fainting

44 fearfulness or phobia

46 twitching of face or eyehds

46 dizziness

47 attacks of laughter or crying

48 attacks of excitement

Health Habits

49 no fruit or vegetable daily

60 less than eight glasses of water, milk,

or other liquid daily

61 fried food daily

52 frequent eating between meals

63 irregular or omitted meals

64 over-exeroise
66 lack of exercise

66 insomma — sleeplessness
57 restless sleep
68 inadequate or irregular sleep
59 gomg to sleep at work or school

60 heavy smoking

61 heavy coffee drinking

62 use of alcoholic drinks

63 poor ventilation in bedroom or study

room

64 poor lighting in study room

Miscellaneous

65 decayed teeth

66 iheumatism

67 pain in joints

68 mastoid

69 backache

70 cramps, numbness, or sweUing in hands

or feet

71 pimples or eruptions

72 goiter or enlaigement of neck

73 “palpitation of the heart”

74 hammering in throat or head

75 pain over the heart

76 shortness of breath

77 severe headaches

78 overweight

79 underweight

80 mjunes or lameness due to accident or

illness

81 night sweats

82 tendency toward tuberculosis

83 kidney trouble

84 bladder trouble

85 herma (rupture)

86 painful or irregular menses

HEALTH AND HEALTH HABITS 155

1 List below any symptoms, ailments, undesirable health habits, or handicaps not included in
the list above, with which you have been troubled dunng the past twelve montlis

2 Is there anything important not mentioned above, m your “health history”? If so, please mention
it briefly below Have you had any accidents, any operations? Any severe illnesses piior to the past
twelve months and so not mentioned above? Have you any physical handicap? If so, what is the nature
of it?

3 Symptoms may be due to various causes For example, dizziness or fainting may be due to
indigestion, or indigestion may be due to emotional excitement (the groupmg of items given above is
thus very lough) What is your understandmg of the nature and causes of any symptoms you may
have?

4 If you have any “health problem,” what have you done about it? Thus if you have trouble
with your eyes, have you had them examined recently? By whom? Have you recently had a thorough
physical examination by a physician? By whom? What were the findmgs? What was recommended?
Have you followed these recommendations?

PROJECT X

EFFECTIVE STUDY

156

What to Do About Health Problems

I. See a health specialist competent to
advise you on your problem. It may be your
family physician, a member of the staff of
the college health service, or some other
specialist

2 A person can rarely obtain enough in-
foimation from reading for self-treatment
but the following are interesting readings on
health habits and on the importance of
health

Health Problems m College
H S Diehl, The Health of College Stu-
dents, Amer Council on Educ, 1939
Pages 95-103 Tables of health problems
in college

Posture'

J. Lane, Your Carnage, Madaml Wiley,
1934 An interesting book on posture

Relaxation

E Jacobson, You Must Relax, McGraw-
Hill, 1934 A short readable book on the
effect of being nervous and tense, with
practical suggestions on how to overcome
these tendencies

J L Rathbone, Relaxation, Teachers Col-
lege, 1944 Chaps 1-4

Health Pfabits

H S Diehl, Healthful Living, McGraw-
Hill, 1941

W R P Emerson, Health for the Having,
Macmillan, 1944

J F Williams, Personal Hygiene Applied,
Saunders, 1941, ytli ed

3. In consultation with your counselor,
list below the steps that you are taking to
acquire better healtli.

PROJECT XI

VOCATIONAL ORIENTATION

Students may work inefficiently in college
because they worry over what vocabon to
prepare for or because they are poorly mob-
vated without a definite vocational goal
Assistance with your vocational planning
may remove this as a distraebon and increase
your motivation for study

Psychologists cannot determine the spe-
cific vocation which a person should enter,
but they can help the student to see his
abilities, knowledge, and interests and the
demands of various occupations Further,
they can assist him to clarify his thinking
m terms of these two fields of knowledge
and can show him job-hunting techniques
The final decision of job selection, however,
must be left to the student That many stu-
dents do not know their own abilibes or the
demands of various occupations is shown by
the following facts many high-school stu-
dents with quite low intellectual ability want
to prepare for professions requiring high in-
telligence, and about 40 per cent of high-
school seniors indicate a desire to enter pro-
fessions which can absorb only about 3 per
cent of the population.

Somebmes students who do not have the
pattern of abilities demanded by a given oc-
cupation persist in seeking an impossible
goal and find only unhappiness and failure
If such a student feels that to alter his voca-
tional choice at his age is a sign of poor
planning on his part, it need only be pointed
out that to change vocational choice is typ-
ical of the student age Studies of several
thousand high-school students show that
over half of them change their vocabonal

^'57

choice somebme during their four years m
high school^ A study at the University of
Minnesota showed that about 24 per cent
of the freshmen felt “uncertain” or "very
uncertain” of their vocational choice ® And
a study of persons listed m Who's Who in
America showed that 16 per cent had
changed their vocations at least twice “

Colleges maintain machinery for assist-
ing students to change majors with the least
loss, and, if the students have abilities in
non-academic lines, to take up training out-
side of college. It IS a mistaken notion to
believe that it is a disgrace not to attend
college or to leave when not doing well Tlie
intelligent person, m this case, will realize
that the college may not be able to give him
what he needs and he will seek a better
source of preparation for his preferred occu-
pation

Self-Evaluation

This project is a means of studying your
abilities and the charactenstics of various
occupabons Its purpose is to assist you in
cooidinatmg the two in the best possible
way

1 What IS your scholastic ability?

percenble. Your Scholasbc Apti-

R Crathome, Changes of mmd between
high school and college as to life work, Educ Adm
and Superv , 1920, 6 274-284, A A Douglass, Vo-
cational interest of high school seniors. School and
Soc , 1922, 16 79-84

^E, G Williamson, How to Counsel Students,
McGrawHill, 1939, p 409

® H D Kitson and L Culbertson, The vocational
changes of one thousand eminent Americans, Nat
Voc Guid Bull, 1923, 1 128-130

158 EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT XI

tude Examination ranking can be obtained
from the counselor

This test IS especially constructed for pre-
dicting college success Tables 8 and 9 illus-
trate to what degree these test results actu-
ally are related to college success at Ohio
State University Table 8 shows that brighter
students are more apt to stay in school and

to get better grades, but over two-thirds
of the lowest group stay in school and
some of them make outstanding grades
Similarly Table 9 shows that graduating
students are about five times as apt to come
from the top fifth as from the bottom
fiWi, but many in the bottom fifth do
graduate

Table 8 The Per Cent of University Freshmen m Each Third (Approximate) on the Ohio State Psycho-
logical Examination That Made Various Grade Records at the End of One Year’s Residence ‘

OSPE

Percentile

Grade Pomt Average

Drop Out

00-99

1 00-1 99

2 00-2 99

3 00-3 99

66-100

21%

2%

17%

41%

19%

30-6S

24%

4%

36%

32%

14%

1-29

39%

3%

42%

16%

1%

Table 9 Level of Intelligence of Students Getting Degrees from a Large Umversity Over a Ten-Year
Penod The Per Cents Indicate the Proportion of the Graduatmg Class in That Fifth (Based on Un-
published Data of H A Toops and R H Bittner )

Graduates’ Level
of Intelligence
on Entianoe
to University

B Arts

BS m
Educ

Degrees Earned

B Engin

B Laws

MD

Top fifth.

39%

31%

32%

41%

32%

Foul til fifth

25

26

24

23

27

Middle fifth

17

21

21

16

19

Second fifth

12

17

13

14

16

Bottom fifth

7

6

10

7

7

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

Another way of indicating the degree of
relationship between scholastic ability and
grades is to say that if one knows a student’s
score on such an ability test, he can predict
the student’s grades with about 20 per cent
less error than just guessing There are,
therefore, many other factors affecbng
grades Students with high ability scores
tend to make good grades, but if such stu-

* H A Edgerton, A study of elimination of
O S U students m relation to intelligence, Ohio
College Assoc Bull , “S,” p 107

dents do not work efficiently they may re-
ceive qmte low grades Students with low
ability scores tend to have more difficulty
with school work but with efficient study
skills and hard work many of them succeed
quite well

Such an ability test will not indicate
whether or not you will succeed m your
chosen field Its results only indicate the
probabihbes of success or failure But such
information is useful since a student will
not want to spend years in struggling

VOCATIONAL ORIENTATION 159

preparation where there may be only a shm
chance of success

A person with a low percentile should
realize two other points (a) College stu-
dents in the lowest deciles tend to be above
the average of the general population in the
ability to do scholastic work but tliey are
in competition with a highly selected group
in college And (b) a low percentile on such
a test IS not necessarily a measure of other
important abilities, such as running a busi-
ness, making friends, etc

If you are interested in other types of
ability tests, ask your counselor about them,
1 e , tests of mechanical, musical, and artistic
ability

2 Interests are a second factor which
should be considered in choosing a vocation
Do you know what fields are of greatest in-
terest to you? Do you know what occupa-
tional group your pattern of interests most
resembles? The evidence indicates that a
person will be most successful in tire oc-
cupation where his interests and outlook on
life coincide with those of active members
of that occupation Tlie Strong Vocational
Interest Test indicates which occupational
groups a person’s interests tend to resemble
the most The Kudor Preference Record
also indicates a person’s profile of interests.
If you would like to take either of these tests,
ask your counselor for a copy Other rough
measures of your interests include the
courses m high school and college which
you have liked best and least.

On the basis of these different measures,
list here the occupational areas which are
of primary interest to you.

3. Previous work and hobby experiences
not only provide a basis for deciding whether
or not you like a field of work, but the actual
experience provides a head start if a related
occupation is taken up For instance, a per-
son who has lived on a farm has such a fund
of biowledge that many Colleges of Veteri-
nary Medicine give prime emphasis to such
previous experience m their entrance re-
quirements

Make a list here of all the previous work
(paid and unpaid) and hobby expeiienccs
you have had which might contribute to an
appreciation of, and a preparation for, a
field of work.

Which Job Is Best? The above informa-
tion provides some bases for choosing a
vocation The next step is to integrate these
data so that the relative suitability of dif-
ferent types of jobs can be more easily seen.
Most students usually have several occupa-
tions in mind which they feel more or less
fit their abilities, interests, and previous ex

EFFECTIVE STUDY

160

penences. They often wonder, however, for
which one they are best suited or if there
might be another, as yet unconsidercd, job
which would be best The following work
sheets can help answer this problem just as

PROJECT XI
putting down numbers on paper helps in
solving a mathematical problem This ex-
ercise IS not a magic formula, it only helps
marshal tlie evidence so tliat you can think
about it more clearly.

THINKING ABOUT JOBS

This exercise falls into three steps First, you briefly appraise your background of abilities, skills,
interests, and opportunities, the questions for this are on the left-hand side of the page Second, you
compaie these appiaisals with the demands of the jobs of the most inteiest to you And third, you
analyze these results

Step 1 Answer each question on the left-hand side of the page with brief cue phrases which will act
as remmdeis in Step % Some of the questions merely lefer to mateiial you have alieady filled out m
this project

St&p % Wiite the names of the two 01 three jobs m which you are most interested at the top of the
columns on the right below Put one job name m each column Now lead how you have lated youiself
on each tiait at the left and judge whether it wiU be important in deteimming youi success for each
of the thiee jobs hsted If the trait is of no importance for a given job, 1 e , “physical strength and size”
would not be impoitant for becommg an “accountant,” maik a zero (0) m that job column opposite
the trait If the tiait is of some importance m a given job, then judge whether your relative proficiency
in it will be an asset or a habihty If you are above aveiage m such an important trait, put a plus (-H)
m the column foi that job, if you aie outstandmgly good m that trait, put a double plus (-|--|-) in
that column If you are deficient in such an important trait, put a minus (— ) in that job column, or

if you aie particularly deficient m that tiait, put a double minu s ( ) m that column If the tiait is

important, but you are only about average m comparison to your probable competition, put a zero
(0) m the job column Each trait is rated in tins way for each of the jobs

Step 3 When this rating is completed, add up the number of pluses and the number of minuses
wbch each job receives The diffeience between these two sums represents a rough score for a job
which can be compared to the scores for the other jobs Additional directions are given at the end of
these work sheets

VOCATIONAL ORIENTATION i6i

STEP 1. HOW DO I RATE? STEP 2 HOW IS MY

RATING RELATED TO
EACH OF THESE JOBS?

Personal charactenstics (answer each queiy relative to others entering
occupations)

Job#l

3ohp

Job #3

Age? young , average , older

Physical size and strength?

Motor skill and cooidmation?

Physical appearance and “looks”?

Intelligence?

School marks?

Skill in making friends?

Skill in speaking and writing?

Pattern of interests (lefer above to analysis made of vocational
mterests)?

Special abihties and skills? Write them down

Personal attitudes (check the one phrase m each series which best
describes you)

Like to work with people , around people . , alone

Like outdoor work , industrial work , clerical work ;

professional woik

Prefer job security , chance to make high income even though

success IS a gamble

Interested more m amount earned ; service to society

Want to be near home town , don’t care where

Want to live m country , small town , city

Want to make own work plans , have jobs assigned

Preparation

Amount of sohoohng I plan to take?

Subjects I bked best?

Subjects I liked least?

Previous work experiences (refer to list made eailier)?

i 62

EFFECTIVE STUDY

PROJECT XI

Present and past hobbies (refer to hst made earlier)?
Other types of training’ List them here

Social situatiorfand opportunUies

Family status (any dependents)?

Prejudice agamst race oi lebgion?

Relative frequency with which you aie chosen for positions of
leadeiship?

Are there special job opportumties where you hve or are well
acquamted?

Do you have good “connections” to help you get started in any
occupation?

Do you have enough money for further teaming?

Are these jobs overcrowded? Aie any related jobs less crowded?

Do the opportumties for advancement in these jobs smt you?
Total number of pluses
Total number of mmuses
Sum

Step 8. Does one of these jobs receive a particularly high “sum score” m comparison to the others?
This would tend to indicate that that particular job is the best of the three Does the high-scoring job
have qmte a few minuses marked? If so, another job might be bettei suited to you Go back to the
place where various types of woik experience and opportunities are listed and see if some other job
IS suggested

List here the one or two occupations of most mterest to you. Is your present college program suited
for preparmg you for these occupations?

VOCATIONAL
Do You Know Much About Your Chosen
Occupation? Most students know very-
little about the jobs they are considering for
their future vocation! Students typically
overestimate the average income m their
chosen field by loo per cent to 200 per cent;
they know little about the actual activities
demanded on tlie job, and they have scant
knowledge of the factors leading to promo-
tion and the speed with which it takes place.
(Table 14 and Chart 18m the Special Read-
ing Skills Test in Appendix I provide some
related information of interest here ) Can
you answer the following questions concern-
ing your top-scoring job?

1 What IS the average income five years
after entering?

2 What steps have to be taken or what
jobs held before you get to the job you
want?

3 How crowded is the field in your
chosen occupation?

4. How much training does it take?

5. How much money does it take to get
started?

ORIENTATION 163

6 What are tlie opportunities for further
advancement?

7 Is tlie occupation stable, growing,
seasonal, or on the decline?

8 Wliat are the duties of this job?
Winch aie the hardest to perform?

9 What are tlie hazards of the job?

10 What is a person’s status on the job
when he reaches forty or fifty years of age?
Increased opportunities? Little change?
Decreased opportunities?

Specific information concerning occupa-
faons of interest can be obtained from the
occupational bibliography at the end of this
project The following general references on
the whole field of work may also be of in-
terest

H D Anderson and P E Davidson, Ameri-
can Job Trends, Occupational Monograph
No 22, Science Research Associates, 1941
H M Bell, Matching Youth and Jobs,
Amer Council on Educ , 1940
H F Clark, Life Earnings, Harper, 1937.

164 EFFECTIVE

Getting the Job and Getting Ahead Vo-
cational guidance includes more than help-
ing a student decide what occupation he
wants to enter He also needs to know about
]ob hunting techniques and some of the
factors which make for success.

Even when jobs are plentiful and workers
scarce, there is competition for the best jobs.
Knowledge of how to go about finding good
jobs and applying for them gives a person a
decided edge over others not prepared. An
excellent and practical discussion of tins
problem will be found m I M Dreese, How
to Get THE Job, Occupational Monograph
#19, Science Research Associates, 1941

Once on tlie job, a person wants to make
good Almost everyone realizes that he must
understand the business so as to be prepared
for greater responsibilities, but most people
do not realize that managers consider cer-
tain personality traits by far the most im-
portant! This IS illustrated by several studies
In the first, the American Council on Edu-
cation asked the personnel and employment
officers of some of America’s largest business
and industrial concerns to list tlie ten traits
most needed for job success.® They listed
the following-

Character marked by honesty, dependability,
and courage A square shooter

Enjoyment of work gets sahsfaction from
digging in and doing a task Begins with
vigor and continues until a task is done
Enthusiasm for job.

Initiative awareness and imagination in see-
ing things to do

Mental alertness intelligence, inquiring
mind, ability to think

Judgment ability to make wise deasions,
people have eonfidence m judgment

° From Wanted A Job, Amer Council on Educ ,

1939

STUDY PROJECT XI

Getting along with people enjoys being with
people, sense of humor, able to obtain
willing cooperation, liked by people

Health vitality, energy, enthusiasm for work
and play Not ill

Appearance and manner creates a good im-
pression, neat, expresses self well

Ambition and objectives knows the type of
job he wants and will be able to fill
Desire to advance

Social and community responsibilities- par-
ticipates m group and community activi-
ties, attempts to improve community

In other studies, analyses have been made
of the reasons why some people are not
promoted and others are fired ° They show
that two-thirds or more of the instances of
non-promotion or firing a worker were due
to problems of personality and social adjust-
ment, only for about one-third were lack of
technical skill and background the causes
Tire following are typical of the personality
difficulties found insubordination, unreli-
ability, absenteeism, laziness, troublemak-
mg, and carelessness

On the positive side of building helpful
personal characteristics, the following read-
ings are interesting

A Buchanan, Lady Means Business, Simon
& Schuster, 1943

P W Chapman, Your Personality and Your
Job, Occupational Monographs No 31,
Science Research Associates, 1942

F Maule, Girl with a Pay Check, Harper,
1942

Your counselor will be glad to assist you
witli any aspect of the pbblem of vocational
guidance

® J M Brewer, Causes for discharge, Personnel / ,
1927, 6 171-172, J J Gibson, Purchasing power of
personahty, J Bus Educ, 1938, 14 9-10

VOCATIONAL ORIENTATION

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF RECENT VOCATIONAL INFORMATION

165

Occupations are arranged below m alpha-
betical order The letteis and numbers which
follow each title have the following signifi-
cance Tire Ictteis "A” through “H” stand for
different monographs and the letters “J”
through “Q” stand for different books to which
frequent reference is made^ A number fol-
lowing a symbol for a monograph series stands
for the number or issue which deals with tliat
occupation The number following a symbol
for a book indicates the page on which the
discussion of that occupation begins In in-
stances where good books on an occupation
have recently been published, these are also
listed directly

The several references for a given occupation
tend to duplicate each other, the reader should
select the one or two which seem best and
which arc available

’The key to the symbols used is as follows
A Science Research Associates, American Job
Senes, Occupational Monographs, 1939-
Eaoh about 50 pp long
B Science Research Associates, Occupational
Outlines on America’s Major Occupa-
tions, 1940- Each 4 pp long
C Science Research Associates, Occupational
Briefs of Postwar Job Fields, 1943-
Each 4 pp long

D Institute for Research, Careers, Research
Monographs, 1930- Each about 25 pp
long

E U S Office of Education, Guidance Leaf-
lets, 1932- Each about 15 pp long
F Occupational Index, Inc , Occupational
Abstracts, 1936- Each about 6 pp long
G Western Personnel Service, Occupational
Briefs, 1939- Each about la pp long
H Bellman Publ Co , Vocational and Profes-
sional Monographs Each 16 or more
PP long

J J Brewer and'E Landy, Occupations To-
day, Ginn, \943

K W Campbell and J Bedford, You and
Your Future Job, Soc Occup Research,

1944

L M Davey, E Smith, and T Myers, Eveiy-
day Occupations, Heath, 1941.

M F Made, Careers for the Home Econo-
mist, Funk, 1943

N P Pollock, Careers in Science, Dutton,

1945

P E Steele, Careers for Girls in Science and
Engineering, Dutton, 1943
Q D Huff and F Huff, Twenty Careers of
Tomorrow, McGraw Hill, 1945

Accounting B 29, 31, C 6, D 4, 98, 103,
F, G, H 7, J 120, K 93, L 357
T W Byrnes and K L Baker, Do You
Want to Be an Accountant? Stokes, 1940
L W Scudder, Accountancy as a Career,
Funk, 1941, rev ed

Advertising A 9, C 129, D 17, 133, 134,
H 10, 24, J 130, K 118
A Broughton, Careers in Public Relations,
Dutton, 1943

B Clair and D Dignam, Advertising Careers
for Women, Harpei, 1939
D De Schweinitz, Occupations m Retail
Stores, International, 1941
W A Lowen and L E Watson, Plow to
Get a Job and Win Success in Advertising,
Prenbce-Hall, 1941

Agents and Credit Workers B 30, C 72, D 95

Agriculture A 15, 18, B 21, 22, 23, 24, 25,
94, C 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 108, D 20, 21,
22, 53, 63, 79, 80, F, PI 11, J 17, 138, K
16, 31, 320, L 13, 25, Q
H P Anderson, Your Career in Agriculture,
Dutton, 1940

Air Conditioning C 122, D 67, F 17, H 33
N V Carlisle, Your Career in Engineering,
Dutton, 1942 Page 164
L K Wright, The Next Great Industry,
Funk, 1939

Architecture, General C 58, D 12, F 34, J 201.
Landscape C 60, D 1 3, F

Armed Services B 85, C 1, 2, 3, 5, D 123, 124,
128, 129, 130, 131, J 251

Art, General B 2, G 132, D 97, PI 36, J 231
Industrial and Commercial D 14, 107, 119,

134

Interior Decoration C 59, D 5, F 64, H 31
J. I Biegeleison, Careers in Commercial
Art, Dutton, 1944

D De Schweinitz, Occupations in Retail
Stores, International, 1941 Page 247
M Downer, Be an Artist, Lothiop, 1941
M Pnee, So You’re Going to Be an Artist,
Watson-Guptill, 1939

Aviation A 33; B 49; C 16, 68, D 39, 77, 122,
137, J 155, 186, L 13, 30, 165, P 128, Q
Gen H H Arnold and Lt Gen I C Eaker,
This Flying Game, Funk, 1942, rev cd
C Plall and R Merkle, The Sky’s the Limit,
Funk, 1943.

i66

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT XI

B W Leyson, Aeronautical Occupations,
Dutton, 1941, rev ed

J. L Peck, So You’re Going to Fly, Dodd-
Mead, 1941

Baking B 50, C 146, K 73, L 128
Banking A 25, B 20, C 140, D 30, 31, F, H
53, K 95, L 235

D Campbell, Careers for Women in Bank-
ing and Finance, Dutton, 1944
Biology and Bacteriology D 3, K 148, L 57,
P 100

Broken B 28, J 132
Building Maintenance B 88, C 57
Business Administration C 73, D 35, 108, PI 3
Ceramics G 149, D 46, 81, Q
Chemistry A 26, 37, B 3, G 29, 79, D 16,
F 1, 73, G, H 33, 48, J 69, K 257, 300,
N, P 75, 140, Q

H Caith, So You Want to Be a Chemist,
McGraw-Hill, 1943

N V Carlisle, Your Career in Chemistry,
Dutton, 1943

Cleaning, Dyeing, Laundry Work B 74, 89,
C 93, 94, D 70

Clerical Work A 11, B 31, 32, C 11, D 115,
135, J 117, K 83, L 344.

Construction B 52, 53, 60, 61, 62, C 44, 55,
56, 105, 109, D 57, 114, F, J 165, K 45,

56. Q

Cosmetology B 87, C 96, D 54, H 13; K 166
Counseling A 20, C 53, 54, D 73, F, J 30, 52,
184

Dentistry and Dental Hygiene B 6, C 112, D
10, 86, F, H 9, J 208, K 141, L 317
C G Woodhouse, Dental Careers, Funk,
1939

Dietetics and Nutrition D 41, K 151, L 307,
317, M 12

D Smcdlcy and A Gmn, Your Career as a
Food Specialist, Dutton, 1943
Draftsmanship B 7, C 49, J 182, K 65
Dramatic Arts B 1, C 130, D 49, 89, F
H Irvine, The Actors Art and Job, Dutton,
1942

D Willson, Hollywood Starlet, Dodd, Mead,
1942

Dressmaking, Tailoring, and Millinery B 67,
73, C 97, F; K 77, 165

Electrical Work B 55, C 25, 51, 102, D 113,
120, PI 32, J 170, K 253, N, Q
Engineering A 30; B 9, 10, 11, 66, C 26, 27,
28, 103, D 2, 16, 36, 37, 38, 76, 83, 92,

120, H 14, 28, 48, J 183, K 44, 62, 252,
L71, 182, Pill

N V Carlisle, Your Career m Engineering,
Dutton, 1942

F D McHugh, How to Be an Engineer,
McBnde, 1941

Fashion Designing D 99, H 16, M 159
M Byers, Help Wanted — Female Careers in
the Field of Fashion, Messner, 1941
G Shultz, Plow to Be a Fashion Designer,
McBride, 1942

J B Swmney, Merchandising of Fashions,
Ronald, 1942
Fishing B 95, C 150

Food Processing C 118, 119, 124, H 46, Q
Forestry A 21, B 97, C 47, 61, D 23, PI 8,

J 152,1-38

Foreign Service (Consular and Trade) C 92
D 18, 51, J 248, K 285
H Nicholson, Diplomacy, Harcourt, Brace,
1939

PI R Wilson, Diplomacy as a Career, Mil-
ton Academy, 1941
Funeral Directing C 99, D 72, F
Geology D 15, K 256, P 89
Government Jobs B 12, 42, C 10, 52, 100,
106, D 38, 125, 126, PI 45, J 238
N V Carlisle and C Erickson, Civil Service
Careers for Boys, Dutton, 1941
N V Carlisle and D McFerran, Civil Serv-
ice Careers for Girls, Dutton, 1941
A C Klein, Civil Service in Public Welfare,
Russell Sage Foundation, 1940
J C O’Brien and P P Marenberg, Your
Federal Civil Service, Funk, 1940
L. J O’Rourke, Opportunities in Govern-
ment Employment, Garden City, 1940
Home Economics C 64, D 24, 96, M

C G Woodhouse, Business Opportunities
for the Home Economist, McGraw-Hill,
1938

Home Making D 24, J 113
Hotel Management C 111, D 34, PI 5, J 109,
K 167

Insurance B 39, C 141, D 40, 111, F, J 131
Journalism and Writing A 4, B 8, C 89, 121,
D 19, F, PI 2, J 211, K 231
I R Logie, Careers for Women in Journal-
ism, International Textbook, 1938
L Pruette, Working with Words, Funk,
1940.

M Shuler, R Knight, and M Fuller, Lady

VOCATIONAL ORIENTATION

Editor Careers for Women, Dutton,
1941

N MacNeil, How to Be a Newspaperman,
Haiper, 1942

Laboratory Technician C 63, D 68, F, L 317,
N, P.

Land Transportation A 2, 8, B 64, 71, 79, 98,
C 22, 46, 116, D 56, F, H 43, j 187, L

140- Q

N V Carlisle, Your Career m Transporta-
tion, Dutton, 1942

B W Leyson, Automotive Occupations,
Dutton, 1941

Language Workers C 144.

Law B 13, C 135, D 7, H 21, 56, J 214; K 298
E L Brown, Lawyers and the Promotion of
Justice, Russell Sage Foundation, 1938

Librarian C 115, D 8, F, G, H 1, J 216, K 249
M Lingenfelter, Books on Wheels Oppor-
tunities in Library Work, Funk, 1938
Classification and Pay Plans for Libraries m
Institutions of Higher Education, Amer
Library Assoc ,1943

B S Rossell, Public Libraries in the Life of
the Nation, Amer Library Assoc, 1943

Manufacturing, Management B 56, C 21, 73,
D 32, 35, H 40

Workers A 32, B 76, C 17, 78, 80, 82, 84,
85, D 127

Mechanics B 48, 57, C 48, D 122.

B W Leyson, Automotive Occupations,
Dutton, 1941

Medicine B 16, C 36, D 26, 29, 104, 105, 110,
116, E 6, F, H 4, J 204, L 280, 316, Q
E L Brown, Physicians and Medical Care,
Russell Sage Foundation, 1937
L M Klinefelter, Medical Occupations for
Boys, Dutton, 1938

L M. Klinefelter, Medical Occupations for
Girls, Dutton, 1939

Metal Trades A 13, 27, 34, B 58, 59, 68, 69,
81, C 14, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 87, F, H 26,
33, J155, K46, L80, Q
B W Leyson, Careers in the Steel Industry,
Dutton, 1945

Meteorology D K 176

Mining and Oil B 72, 75, C 15, 125, 126,
D 62, 76, 92, G, H 23, 35, J 177, K 44, 254,
L 62, 71

Modeling H 39

O Malcova, Wanted Girl with Glamour,
Duell, Sloan, & Pearce, 1941

167

G M Dessner, So You Want to Be a Model'
Morgan-Dillon, 1943

Motion Picture Workers (see Dramatics for
actors) C 120, G, H 52
Museum D 91

Music A 12, B 14, C 131, D 11, 88, 93, 121,
F, H 6, J 71

H Johnson, Your Career in Music, Dutton,
1944.

G Moore, The Unashamed Accompanist,
Macmillan, 1944

Nursing A 35, B 19, 92, C 37, 98, D 25, 105,
F, H 41, J 208, L 298

E L Brown, Nursing as a Profession, Russell
Sage Foundation, 1940, 2nd ed
L M Klinefelter, Medical Occupations for
Girls, Dutton, 1959

C Schulz, Your Career in Nursing, McGraw-
Hill, 1941

D Sutherland, Do You Want to Be a Nurse'''
Doubleday, Doran, 1942
Office Machine Operation A 11, B 41, C 7, F,
H 25, K 293

Optometry C 114, D 27, J 233
Osteopathy C 147, D 28, E 23, H 20
Pharmacy C 101, D 44, E 14, PI 31, L 317
Photography A 24, B 15, C 50, D 47, G, H 52,
55, J 230, K 293

B W Leyson, Photographic Occupations,
Dutton, 1940
Physicist J 68, N, P 50
Psychology C 104, K 271
Public Relations C 88, D 1 36
A Broughton, Careers in Public Relations,
Dutton, 1943

Publishing and Printing A 6, B 8, 34, C 110,
134, 137, D 9, 118, J 138, Q
Purchasing Agent C 76, D 78, 94
Radio A 12, B 63, C 24, 117, D 39, 121, F 74,
H 44, K 182, 228, L 168, 174, Q
N V Carhsle and C C Rice, Your Career
in Radio, Dutton, 1941.

R DeHaven and H Kahm, How to Break
into Radio, Harper, 1941
J L Homung, Radio as a Career, Funk,
1940

J J Floherty, Behmd the Microphone, Lip-
pincott, 1944

F M Reck, Radio from Start to Finish,
Crowell, 1942

Real Estate B 27, G 142; D 74, F 78, J 130.

i68 EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT XI

Religious Work B 4, C 91, H 18, K 262
W A Brown, The Minister His World and
Ths Work, Cokesbury, 1937
Vocations m the Church, The National
Council, 1944

Restaurant Operator G 137, 138, D 69, H 15,
37

Retail Store Work and Management B 26, 33,
35> 36, 37. 38’ 43. 47 > C 70. 7 h 77» H 3 ’
D 48, 55, 56, 65, 75, 78, 87, 90, 101,
117, 121, H 22, L 213, 232
N A Brisco and L Amowitt, Introduction
to Modern Retailing, Prenlice-Hall, 1942,
D De Schweinitz, Occupations m Retail
Stores, International, 1941
D McFerran, Careers m Retailing for Young
Women, Dutton, 1943
C G Woodhouse, The Big Store Oppor-
tunities in Department Store Work, Funk,

1943

Salesmanship B 34, 43, C 74, 75, D 33, J 118,
K108

F Maule, Selling — ^A Job That’s Always
Open, Funk, 1940

Schools and Colleges. A 5, B 5, 18, C 65, 66,
D 6, 52, 88, 100, 106, F, H 12, 29, K 244;
M 92, Q

Teachers for Our Times, Amer Council on
Educ., 1944

L Cole, The Background for College Teach-
ing, Farrar & Rinehart, 1940
L J Nuttall, Teacher, Macmillan, 1941.

R C Woellner and M A Wood, Require-
ments for Certification of Teachers and

Administrators, Univ Chicago Press, 1944,
8th ed

Secretarial and Stenographic Work A 11, B
44, C 8, D 64, 66, 135, F, H 50, J 119,
K 87, L 348

F Maule, The Road to Anywhere Oppor-
tunities in Secretarial Work, Funk, 1941

L Scott and E C Belcher, How to Get a
Secretarial Job, Flarper, 1942
Social, Police, and Public Service Work A 3,
23, 32, 35, B 17, 83, 84, C 38, 90, 127,
136, D 42, 43, 50, 125, H 19, 57, J 220,
238, K 271, L 253

E li Brown, Social Work as a Profession,
Russell Sage Foundation, 1942, 4th rev
ed

A C Klein, Civil Service in Public Welfare,
Russell Sage Foundation, 1940

A E Fink, The Field of Social Work, Holt,
1942

L. M French, Psychiatric Social Work,
Commonwealth Fund, 1940.

Statistical Work A x, D 45

Telegraph and Telephone Service B 45, 46,

80, C 9, 45, H 30, J 121, K 180
Textiles C 81, 83, D 112, L 114, M 182, Q
Therapists C 62, D 102, 109; F 71, 72, H 17
Traffic Management A 2, 8, D 60, G
Veterinary Medicine- C 148, D 71, E 18, F,

K152

Water Transportation B 77, 96, C 4, 13, 23;
D 132, Q

N V Carlisle, Your Career in Transporta-
tion, Dutton, 1942

PROJECT XII
SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT

Ability to get along with others is im-
portant in our crowded world And every
person wants to be liked, to become a mem-
ber of some group, and to be selected for
positions of leadership With the adult
world eager to have students socially ad-
justed and with the students themselves
striving to be accepted, it would seem that
little difiEculty should occur, but the evi-
dence IS otherwise Worries about not being
liked or not being popular are among those
frequently mentioned by college students

As a high-school senior, the average stu-
dent usually feels socially secure with his
friends and his gang, but when he goes away
to college, he has to work hard to make new
social contacts on the campus If he be-
comes unhappy over a lack of dates and
congenial friends (and is a little homesick),
he may make frequent trips home wheie
he knows he is accepted. Some students, on
finding it difficult to make friends, even quit
school, unhappy and disappointed m tlieir
college experiences

Willie a person must adjust to many types
of groups, the adjustment that presents die
most problems at the time of entering col-
lege IS acceptance by fellow students That
IS, being included as a member of some con-
genial group of his own age, having a few
close friends, and being liked by the op-
posite sex At this time some students are
also going through the last stages of emanci-
pation or becoming independent of the
home If a student feels secure in all of these
social lelationships, he feels free to devote
a large part of his efforts to study If not, he

is apt to be distracted from his studies

The social structure on a campus (the
pattern of who is liked or not and the degree
of such feeling) is much different than most
persons suppose The actual pattern is well
illustrated by the results of administering a
sociometry test in a girls’ dormitory.^ In this
Simple test the students were asked to list
the two or three persons they would like as
partners in several everyday campus ac-
tivities such as double dating, eating, and
studying When the number of choices that
each person received was tabulated, the dis-
tribution in Chart i6 was obtained That
is, most students receive less than the
average number of votes and many receive
almost no votes! While each one would like
to be the person at the right-hand end of
the distribution— the popular individual-
most students are actually at the stage of
feeling “when a feller needs a friend”
Furthermore, an analysis of those whom the
low-score persons picked in their nomina-
tions indicated to some extent how strongly
such isolates feel about their position of
isolation While most of the students
tended to pick individuals for desired as-
sociates who were somewhere near their own
level of popularity, the isolates and near
isolates picked not those who picked them
but the most popular individuals (as sym-
bols of their frustrated desires)!

In this same experiment an analysis of

^Jean Waid Reilly, Correlation Between Factors
in Girls’ Baclcground and Their Popularity in a
College Dormitory, unpublished Master’s thesis,
Ohio State Univ, 1942

lyo

the factors related to popularity indicated
that differences were not due to accidents
of location in the dormitory nor particularly
to family status, differences seemed in great
part to spring from the personality char-
acteristics of the individuals themselves
Wliat then were these characteristics? Sur-
prisingly enough, intelligence was not re-
lated to popularity in college, that is, every-
one was bright enough not to be offensive
to at least some other people Tire factors
which were related seemed to be of two
types- the external niceties of behavior
which make a person easy to get along with,
and the worth of the person as an individual
This project deals pnmanly witli the first of
these under the following three headings
(i) Etiquette, (2) Participation Skills, and
(3) Appearance and Manner Although the
other area, the worth of the individual, is on
the whole very difficult to tackle through
reading, the following books on the subject
may be of interest and some assistance, and
the next project on "personal problems” also
touches on it

L Cole, Attaining Maturity, Farrar & Rine-
hart, 1944

PROJECT xn
H E Fosdick, On Being a Real Person,
Harper, 1943

E Lloyd-Jones and R Fedder, Coming of
Age, ^^ffiittlesey Plouse, 1941
F McKinney, Psychology of Personal Adjust-
ment, Wiley, 1941 Chaps 9-11
P E Osgood, Say I to Myself, Harvard Univ
Press, 1944

Before discussing the different divisions
m this project, a review of one further study
provides an orientation to the total area of
social effectiveness ® This author, on the
basis of a thorough review of many studies
of social intelligence, found that eleven
charactenstics could be isolated That is, the
socially effective person is one who.
a Takes people as they are
b Inflates tlie ego of others
c. Is considerate of others
d Is adaptable to changing circumstances
e Is careful of personal appearance
f Displays good manners
g Has a normal degree of functional in-
telligence

h Has a normal amount of emotional
maturity

® V D Jackson, Measurement of social pro-
ficiency, J Exper Educ, 1940, S 422-474

EFFECTIVE STUDY

SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT 171

i Is able and willing to assume leader-
ship when group consensus calls for
such leadership

] Possesses a high character witliout at-
titudes of reform and holiness
k Has certain similarities to the group m
which he is participating

These characteristics are covered in the sec-
tions which follow

1 Etiquette A knowledge of the ac-
cepted campus ways of behaving when with
others makes one feel at ease among people
and also makes one’s behavior more pre-
dictable and therefore easier for others to
adjust to A list of situations which occur
fiequently and which give students the most
trouble has been obtained tlirough the co-
operation of Mortar Board chapters from
over the country. Campus leaders were also
asked to state what they felt was acceptable
behavior in these situations This matenal
is summarized in the book, Your Best Foot

Forward, by D C Stratton and H. B
Schleman, McGraw-Hill, 1940.

Do you know the forms of behavior most
acceptable to college students? The follow-
ing etiquette test which is based on the
findings of the above study will test your
general proficiency m this area Wlien the
test is completed, its key will be found on
page 247 m Appendix II Wlnle it might be
said that a student ought to know all of the
items on this test since the topics weie
selected by college students, most students
are not sticklers for such form. You may,
therefore, like to see how you compare to
students in a large university through use
of the norms below These and your interest
m etiquette can provide a basis for setting
your goal of proficiency in this area (A local
campus custom may occasionally disagree
with an answer on the key but be sure that
this IS true and doesn’t merely represent an
indifference among your friends to certain
aspects of correct etiquette )

Lowest Quarter

Norma on Etiquette Test (No light)

Second Quarter Third Quarter Top Quaiter

J

i

1 1

0 33

'

Qi Md Qb

TEST OF SOCIAL USAGE

1. In making introductions, the man should be presented to the woman T F

2 (for men) On being mtroduced to another man, a man may stand or not as he chooses, or

(for women) Women never rise for mtroductions T P

3. If no one has mtroduced you to a member of a social gathering, you may introduce your-
self T P

4. In mtroducmg a guest to a roomful of people, the guest’s name should be mentioned first. T P

5. Being in the same class with someone serves as sufficient mtroduction for conversation T P

6. A guest should always be introduced to the housemother T P

7. At a house dance, it is not necessary that all guests meet the chaperons T P

8 A girl student is introduced to a professor, and not vice versa, for instance, one might say

“Professor Jones, may I present Miss Snuth ” TP

9. It IS customary to arrive a few mmutes before the hour set for a dinner party T P

10 At a large banquet, one may begin to eat after those near-by have been served. T P

ij2 EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT Xn

11. A salad may be cut with a knife T F

12, A good rule to follow at a dmner is to use your silver m its order of arrangement, beginning

with the piece neaiest your plate T F

13 When passing your plate for a second helpmg, you should lemove your knife and fork out

of consideration for the servei- T F

14 You may eat the followmg foods with your fingers radishes, olives, dry crisp bacon, shoe-
string potatoes, and corn on the cob T F

15 It IS all right to drink your soup if it is served in a cup T F

16. You may use your fingers foi lump sugar even though tongs are provided T F

17, Fish bones and fiesh-fruit pits should be removed from the mouth with the fingers T F

18 It is no longer consideied necessary to leave any food on your plate T F

19 In a college rbmng room it is all light to help yourself to a dish which is being passed even

though you have some of that type of food on your plate T F

20 On a dinner date the man should take the mitiative in ordermg dinner, suggesting items he

feels that he can afford T F

21 If a man is having a dinner date and a gnl stops at his table to speak to his girl, he may

lomam seated T F

22 On a double date for dinner the giils sit facing their dates across the table T F

23 The usual tip is 6 per cent of the bill T F

24, A man should alight from a bus or streetcar first and then assist the woman with him T F

26 The woman precedes the man mto a row of seats, T F

26 It IS better for a man to say, “Will you go to the Thanksgiving dance with me Saturday

night? ” than “May I have a date Saturday mght? ” T F

27 In all ordinary situations, the woman has the lesponsibility for suggesting the time for

startmg home T F

28 A man may assume the privilege of “ coming m for a few mmutes ” after bringing his date

home. T F

29 A man should invite a woman to a dance two or three weeks early. T F

30, A man never leaves a woman alone on a dance floor T F

31 When there is no one to serve punch, the woman should serve her partner and herself T F

32. When a man and woman are taJkmg on the telephone, she should be responsible for closmg

the conversation T F

33. Today it is acceptable for women to telephone men when they feel hlce it. T F

34. The man takes the imtiative m begmmng conespondence with a woman T F

35. You are expected to wnte a thank you note if you have been an overnight guest. T F

36 An R S.V P demands that you accept or decline an offered invitation as soon as possible T F

37. You should speak to your professors or the college president whether they know you per-
sonally or not T F

38 A man should remove his hat when nding m any elevator in which women are present T F

39. In a household where the hostess does not have a maid, the guest should offer to assist m

some of the household duties, T F

40. (for men) For a spring formal, either the man’s tiousers or jacket should be of a light color.
or (for women) It is not acceptable for a college woman to wear a sorority or fraternity pin

to a formal dance. T F

SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT 173

If interested in further reading about
etiquette, you will find the above-mentioned
book. Your Best Foot Forward, by D C
Stratton and H B Schleman is an excellent
source Other useful source books for col-
lege students are as follows’

B Allen and M P Briggs, If You Please',
Lippmcott, 1942

M Banning and M L Culkm, Conduct
Yourself Accordingly, Harper, 1944.

M E Cmdy and B Wheeler, Manners for
Moderns, Dutton, 1942

2 Participation Skills In order to fit
in with a college group, one needs to know
its meeting places, traditions, curient lan-
guage idioms, and how to paiticipate in its
activities So much of the pattern of living
on a given campus is specific to that locality
that self-evaluation tests cannot be in-
cluded here But if you feel somewhat iso-
lated on the campus, some thought should
be given to the question’ Is it because I
don’t know the local ways, rather than be-
cause the other students are aloof and cold?

Activities which youth participate m,
however, are pretty much the same over the
country Some evaluation is possible here
although the interpretation of results is
difficult For one thing, a student doesn’t
need to know how to participate in all
campus activities; people have individual
preferences as to what they like to do On
the other hand, inability to paiticipate in
such a universal activity as dancing may be

the basis for a student’s exclusion from a
group of friends whom he would like to
have Further evidence of the type of prob-
lem here discussed is the finding at the Uni-
versity of Minnesota that 17 per cent of
the men and 12 per cent of the women
participated in no organized activities on or
off the campus and many of the others only
listed church attendance®

The basis adopted here for evaluating ac-
tivities IS threefold (a) Are enough ac
tivities participated m to give many social
contacts? (b) Is this range of activities suf
ficient to permit a variety of contacts? And
(c) are there enough personal hobbies and
interests to act as a counterbalance to these
social pursuits and to lead to the develop-
ment of an interesting individuality? Thus
one becomes acceptable (and also grows m
personal happiness) as he can do the things
tliat others do and is individualistic enough
to be an interesting companion

One basis for evaluation is to compare
your pattern of out-of-school activities with
that of other students As noted above, it is
not intended that every student should have
an identical pattern but neither should a
student limit his activities to lonely pursuits
and hobbies. Tlie first step then is to fill out
the following Activity Questionnaire so that
you will have some concrete data with which
to work

® C M Brown, Soaal activities survey, J Higbez
Educ, 1936, 8 257—264

174

EFFECTIVE STUDY

PROJECT xn

ACTIVITY QUESTIONNAIRE

Foi each of the following activity areas, list how many different kinds you participated in during the
past year, i e , how many diffeient sports?

1. Different kinds of sports

2 Different kmds of card games

3 Different kinds of social groups, i e , fratermty, student government, Y M C A
4. Different kmds of hobbies

For each of the following activity aieas, list bow many times you have participated in each in the
past month.

5 Concerts . .

6. Movies

7 Dances

8 Dates

9 Parties

10 Bull sessions

For the following two activity areas, bst how many houis you spend a month on each

11. Leisuie Eeadmg .

12. Radio

Your results on this questionnaire can be deviates extremely in his amount of par-
compared to those of other students through ticipation and in the balance of his dis-
use of Table lo It shows the results on a tnbution.

similar questionnaire for typical midwestern Another basis for evaluation, as well as an
college freshmen and college seniors For indication of a problem which faces the col-
each group is shown the number checked lege graduate, is given in Chart 19 in Ap-
by the median student and also the scores pendix I (see page 218) This chart shows
for the first and third quartiles To compare the degree to which 13,000 youth (ages
your results, find the group row which best 16-24) in Maryland participated m club
describes you and then for each type of activities when in school and after gradua-
activity mark above, below, or on the one tion It is startling to find that so many stu-
of the tliree numbers which is closest to dents do not belong to any clubs Another
your score important finding in this chart, and cor-

These data have to be used with some roborated by other studies, is that on leaving
caution, however The season of the year school with its many social opportunities,
(spring in this case), the ratio of men to youth show a marked drop in the amount of
women, and the climate, all affect what is participation m group activities, 1 e , only
checked. And as indicated before, there is 21 per cent belong to clubs In another
no best end to these norms, the value of this study 38 per cent of the women who had
table lies in permitting a student to see if he graduated from small high schools in Ohio

SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT

Table 10 Extent to Winch Different Groups of Students Participate in Different Tsrpes of Activities ^

Number m Past Year

Times m Past Month

Hours per
Month

Sports

Oamea

Social

Hob-

a-

Movio

Dance

Date

Party

Bull

Radio

Males

75%

8

7

3

5

2

5

3

6

3

10

21

34

College freshmen

mdn

6

4

1

3

1

6

2

4

1

5

13

21

25 %

3

1

1

2

0

3

1

2

1

2

7

8

75%

9

6

3

6

2

7

3

8

3

10

33

33

College semors

mdn

6

4

2

3

1

6

1

5

2

6

19

19

25%

2

1

1

2

0

3

1

2

1

2

12

10

Females

76%

7

6

3

5

2

6

5

10

4

8

18

40

College freshmen

mdn

4

3

2

3

2

6

3

8

2

4

13

20

25%

2

1

1

1

1

3

2

6

1

1

7

10

76%

7

6

3

5

2

6

4

11

4

4

28

32

College seniors

mdn

4

2

2

3

1

4

2

7

2

2

16

20

26%

2

2

1

2

1

3

1

4

1

1

9

11

belonged to no organizations although all of
them had been active in high school Similar
declines occur in other types of activifaes,
eg, a study of 5,000 teachers showed that
4a per cent had no hobbies and 36 per cent
took no systematic exercise Some interesting
data as to how college graduates spend their
free time once they are out of college is
given in Table 13 on page 214 m Ap-
pendix I In general, however, students who
have an active program in school are more
apt to continue it into adult life than aie
students with a narrow and limited pro-
gram

Wliat a person does with Ins fiee time
IS m a major sense his own business, that is,
he should be allowed to decide if he does
not want to participate in activities or
hobbies, or wishes to drop them as he leaves
school But the following studies indicate
that such a pattern has its dangeis and a

^ Based on the norms for the Recreation Inquiry
by R Wilkinson and S, L. Pressey,

fair warning should at least be given In
one study it was found that only ig per cent
of teachers judged to be “unusually stable”
had no hobbies but 39 per cent of those
judged “unduly nervous” had no hobbies
Another study showed that the top fifth in
personality adjustment participated four
times as often in “active, outdoor, social”
activities as the bottom fifth m adjustment
These two extreme gioups did not differ in
their number of activities which were
solitary and sedentary, but the best adjusted
participated only one-sixth as often m
hobbies similar to tlieir work as the least
well-adjusted Another study showed that the
major characteristic of teachers admitted to
state hospitals for the insane was a lack of a
well-rounded interest pattern Still othei
experiments have shown that pci sons who
have fiiends near by are better able to with-
stand die effects of fiustration than j^ersons
witliout such friends It seems obvious that
while almost any recreation is fun, a balanced

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT XH

recieational program is fundamental to later
happy adjustment “

The following questions provide a basis
for integrating and further clarifying your
tlimking in this area Answer each m light
of the results above and your other evalua-
tions

a In what activities currently much em-
phasized in campus life do you have
trouble participating?

b What means are available in college
or in town for learning about these
activities, le, classes, handbooks, ac-
tivities, le., etc.?

'The discussion m the last two paragraphs has
been based on the following studies Although
many of them deal with teachers, the findings are
representative for other adults H M Bell, Youth
Tell Then Story, Amer Council on Educ, 1938,
273 pp , F S Chapin, Extracurncular activibes of
college students, a study m college leadership,
School and Soc , 1926, z6 212-216, S L Pressey,
Outstanding problems of emergency junior college
students. School and Soc, 1936, 43 743-747,
Fit to Teach, Ninth Yearbook, National Educabon
Association, Department of Classroom Teachers,
1938, 276 pp , W S Phillips and } E. Greene,
Preliminary study of relabonship of age, hobbies,
and civil status to neurobcism among women teach-
ers, / Educ Psych , 1939, 30 440-444, F, V
Mason, A study of 700 maladjusted teachers. Men-
tal Hygiene, 1931, 15 576-600, } R P. French, Jr,
The disrupbon and cohesion of groups, J Abn. &
Soc Psych , 1941, 36 361-378, W C Reaws and
G E Van Dyke, Nan-athletic extra cumculum ac-
tivities, U S Office of Educ , Bull No 17, Monog
No. 26, 1932, 149 pp

c List specific activities that you plan to
participate in during this and the next
term.

The following references will also he of
some assistance

H M Bell, Youth Tell Their Story, Amer
Council on Educ, 1938 Chap 5 How
13,000 youth (16-24) spent their time

M M Crawford, Student Folkways and
Spending, Columbia Univ Press, 1943

M L Greenbie, The Aits of Leisure,
McGraw-Hill, 1936

M L Greenbie, Art of Living in War-time,
McGraw-Hill, 1943

A H Morehead, Modern Hoyle, Winston,

1945

Pocket Book of Games, Pocket Books, 1944,
No 260

G E Snavely, Choose and Use Your Col-
lege, Harper, 1941

D E Super, Avocatfonal Interest Patterns,
Stanford Univ. Press, 1940

C G Wren and D L Harley, Time on
Them Hands, Amer Youth Comm , 1941

3 Appearance and Manner The gist of
this section may be stated simply as good
taste in appearance and sincerity m manner,
the very worst thing to do is to appear to be
“putting on” m order to influence other
people. On the otlier hand, students have
questions as to what constitutes good taste
in clothes, which mannerisms are offensive,
and how one’s attempts to affect other per-
sons may be made more effective

Something as to the importance of ap-
pearance and manner, on first meeting a per-
son, IS indicated by an experiment at one

SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT 177

TABiiB 11 The Most Frequent of 49 Areas m Which Students Make Comments About Other Students
Whom They Are Seeing for the First Time (Adapted from Jacobson.)

Rank Area Per Cent of Comments Nature of Comment

Order

m This Area

Positive

Neutral

Negative

1

Grooming — general remarks

13 5

82%

4%

14%

25

Groommg — hau dress

10 2

47

10

43

25

Posture

10 2

61

14

35

4

Emotions

88

64

9

27

6

Self assurance — seif distrust

64

13

27

60

6

Altruism — self seeking

58

89

3

8

7

Gregar lousness — solitariness

56

81

6

13

8

Taste in dress

48

87

6

7

9

General oharactcristios — physical

46

88

7

6

10

Groommg — make-up

42

17

12

71

11

Clothmg — suitability to occasion

20

72

3

25

12

Clothing — ^harmony of color

26

67

4

39

13

Physical characteristics — ^hair

25

97

1

2

14

Suitability of clothes to person

21

41

5

54

15

Physical complexion

2.0

74

10

16

16

Eyes

16

96

0

5

17.

Clothing — harmony of parts

16

31

5

64

18

Remarks about clothing

13

83

8

9

university ® Over 250 entering freshman
girls, divided into groups of 24 each, wrote
down their reactions concerning 23 other
students as each in turn stood m hont of
the class The several thousand offliand re-
actions were then analyzed and classified by
judges under 49 subtopics Table 11 sum-
marizes the results for the top i8 of tiiese
(which accounted for 90 per cent of all the
comments) Grooming and posture are
mentioned the most often Standing thus m
front of 23 strangers would be more embar-
rassing than the usual situation, so several
aspects of behavior also rank high. Tlie
right-hand side of the table shows how these
comments are distributed according to cate-
gories of favorable, neutral, and unfavorable
Most comments were favorable, but it is
interesting to note that several items tended
toward particularly heavy negative votes,
le, grooming (make-up), clothing (har-
mony of parts), self-distrust, suitability of
clothes to person, grooming (hair dress),

“W E. Jacobson, Fust impressions of class-
mates, J Appl Psych, 1945, 29 142-155

clothing (harmony of color), and posture.
When the experimenter analyzed the re-
actions of other students who knew each
other, she found that reactions to personality
halts moved up to first place, and grooming,
for instance, moved down to third. Char-
acterisfacs of appearance are therefore es-
pecially important for a first impression.

A person's manner, as well as his ap-
pearance, IS important m dealing with other
individuals. When one thinks of how dif-
ferent individuals influence the behavior of
otliers, it IS apparent tliat some seem to do
It with effective skill and otliers "put tlieir
foot in it.” A person who is pleasant and
fnendly is more apt to be liked and effective
tlian one who is reserved and dour Courtesy,
honesty, interest in others, and a sense of
humor are other haits which characteristi-
cally differenhate liked from disliked people
m college.^ On the other hand one often

^ F W Burks, Some factors related to social suc-
cess m college, J Soc Psych, 1938, 9 125-140,
W G Mather, Courtship ideals of high school
youth. Social and Soc Res , 1934, 19 166-172

EFFECTIVE STUDY PROJECT XII

finds that certain mannerisms are sources of
annoyance to others Attempts to improve
one's social presence and skill are worth
while

Books on how to win friends and in-
fluence people are popular, more tlian tliree
million copies of one sueh book having
been published But you can probably re-
call some people who, having read such
hooks, overdid it when they tried the tech-
niques To appear to be “putting on” such
techniques is offensive to others, any man-
ner of behaving must appear to be natural
Some idea as to the nature of these effecfave
social skills can be found m the following
readings, but you will do well to have a “best
friend” or your counselor help you analyze
what mannerisms and characteristics in your
present behavior are not pleasing

The following readings deal with both
appearance and social behavior

G F Alsop and M F McBride, She’s Off
to College, Vanguard, 1940

D Carnegie, How to Win Friends and In-
fluence People, Pocket Books, No 68

V Dengel, Personality Unlimited, Winston,

1943

R B Hamrick, How to Make Good m Col-
lege, Association Press, 1940, Chaps 5-8

E Hawes, Fashion Is Spinach, Random
House, 1938

W Wliite, Psychology in Living, Mac-
millan, 1944

M Wilson, Woman You Want to Be, Lip-
pincott, 1942

The college years are often the bme when
one finds Ins best friends and even the per-

son he later marries Because the entering
student wants to do whatever he can to be
good at such selection, he often spends
much thought on two decision areas

(a) What campus gioups should I join?

(b) Should I get married— and to whom?
Such decisions are the person’s own, but the
following readings may be of interest and
some assistance m clarifying these problems

Campus Groups

G F Alsop and M F McBride, She’s OS
to College, Vanguard, 1940 Chap 10
H C Hand, Campus Activities, McGiaw-
Hill, 3938 Chap 9

E Lloyd-Jones and R Fedder, Coming of
Age, Whittlesey House, 1941 Pages 226-
233

M McConn, Planning for College, Stokes,

1937 Pages 199-234

R B Hamrick, Flow to Make Good in Col-
lege, Association Press, 1940 Pages 28-30

Marriage

H A Bowman, Marriage for Moderns,
McGraw-Hill, 1942

D D Bromley and F H Britton, Youth and
Sex, Harper, 1938

J K Folsom, Plan for Marriage, Flarper,

1938

R G Foster, Marriage and Family Relation-
ships, Macmillan, 1944
E R Groves, Marriage, Holt, 1942
H M Jordan, You and Marriage, Wiley,
1942

P Popenoe, Modern Marriage, Macmillan,
1942

F B Strain, Love at the Threshold, Apple-
ton-Century, 1941

PROJECT XIII

PERSONAL PROBLEMS

Probably almost every one of us has per-
sonal problems These worries make us in-
efficient by distracting our attention, pre-
venting normal healthful habits of living,
and giving us a dour outlook on life Quite
often, in spite of our resolve to stop thinking
about them, tliey keep plaguing us
Worries and fears can be dealt with so
that cither they are eliminated or adjust-
ments are made to them Psychologists have
found that if a person talks over his prob-
lems with some adequately trained individ-
ual, he will be benefited in two ways First,
just talking over a problem with another per-
son tends to "get it out of one’s system,”
with quite beneficial results to his peace of
mind Second, in spite of the common belief
that each person’s problems are unique, psy-
chologists have found that most problems
have certain common characteristics and
that people tend to react in certain regular
ways to them With this understanding of
problems and of their good and poor solu-
tions, psychologists arc able to assist people
in analyzing the nature of tlieir worries and
in handling them better
The counselor in charge of this course is
available for consultation concerning any
personal problems you may wish to discuss
with him Many colleges also have on their
staff other trained people who specialize in
this personal counseling Youi counselor can
tell you who these guidance specialists are.
Because almost eveiyone is reticent about
having his personal affairs and problems gen-
erally known, these specialists keep all in-
formation given them strictly confidential.

SeE-Evaluation

There is no parhcular need to make a
catalogue of all your worries In a way,
your checking on the Piobleip Check List
in Project I represents such a listing Each
student knows his own woiries, he should
feel free to ask for a conference with a
counselor in order to talk over any of them
tliat he wishes.

Often if a student has difficulty m dis-
cussing a problem directly with another per-
son, he will find that writing out a de-
scription of it for the counselor to read
confidentially will enable him to present it
more easily

Program for Improvement

Your talks with your counselor (either
die guidance specialist or your course coun-
selor) will be the key aspect of this project.
Some useful readings are listed among the
following, aldiough you must realize that
mere reading is not a complete answer to
many problems.

Finances in College’

W J Greenleaf, Working Your Way
Through College, U S Office of Educ
V D Bull No 210, 1940, 175 pages

W J Greenleaf, Student Loan Funds, U S
Office of Educ, 1940, Misc No 2141,
19 pages

F J Kelley and E B Ratcliffe, Financial
Aid for College Students, U S Office of
Educ, Bull No 11, 1940

C E Lovej'oy, So You're Going to College,
Simon & Schuster, 1940.

179

EFFECTIVE STUDY

M McConn, Planning for College, Stokes,
1937 Pages 102-165, 261-263

G E Snavely, Choose and Use Your Col-
lege, Plarper, 1941

Home Relationships

C C Fry and E G Rostow, Mental Health
in College, Commonwealth Fund, 1943
Chap 3

E A Leonaid, Pzohlems of Freshmen Col-
lege Girls, Teachers College, Child Dev
Moiiog, No 9, 1932

E Lloyd-Jones and R Fedder, Coming of
Age, Whittlesey House, 1941 Chap 3

K W Taylor, Do Adolescents Need Parents?
Appleton-Century, 1938

Organic Factors and Personality Development

A V Keliher, Life and Growth, Appleton-
Century, 1938

W V Richmond, Personality, Its Develop-
ment and Hygiene, Farrar & Rinehart,
1937 Pages 192-200, 261-265.

A Schcinfeld, You and Heredity, Stokes,

^ 1939

L F Shaffer, Psychology of Adjustment,
Houghton Mifflin, 1936 Chap 12

Philosophy of Life, Religious Development

M E Bennett, College and Life, McGraw-
Hill, 1941, rev. ed.

H E Fosdick, On Being a Real Person,
Haiper, 1943.

PROJECT xm

L B Hale, From School to College, Yale
Umv Press, 1939

D B Klein, Mental Hygiene, Holt, 1944
Chap 11. On dynamics of conscience

J H Miller, Take a Look at Yourself, Cokes-
bury, 1944

Emotional Problems

D D Bromley and F H Britton, Youth
and Sex, Harper, 1938

O M Butterfield, Love Problems of Adoles-
cents, Teach Coll Contn Educ, 1939,
No. 798

L Cole, Attaining Maturity, Fariar & Rine-
hart, 1944

C C Fry and E G Rostow, Mental Health
in College, Commonwealth Fund, 1943

W Johnson, People in Quandaries, Harper,
1946

F, McKinney, Psychology of Personal Ad-
justment, Wiley, 1941 Chaps 13-16

W Richmond, Making the Most of Your
Personality, Farrar & Rinehart, 1942

L F Shaffer, Psychology of Adjustment,
Houghton Mifflin, 1936 Chaps 5-10

E A Strecker, K E Appel, and J W Appel,
Discovering Ourselves, Macmillan, 1944,
2nd ed

L E Travis and D W Baruch, Personal
Problems of Everyday Life, Appleton-
Century, 1941

W White, Psychology m Living, Macmillan,
1944

PROJECT XIV

LOOKING AHEAD

Tlie purpose of this final project is to
make an inventory of your progress and to
plan for whatever future work seems neces-
sary This cannot be a final closing of your
record or of your efforts since a single course
cannot be expected completely to remedy
the deficient attitudes, skills, and knowledge
you may have developed over a period of
many years Thus far, you have had the fol-
lowing purposes m this course, (i) the de-
velopment of an awareness of your various
abilities and problems, (2) training in
higher-level work skills, and (3) an initial
attack to remedy deficiencies in, or adjust
your plans to, your profile of abilibes. Now
there is need for a progress report upon
which you can base your future efforts Be-
cause training in how-to-study must be done
in terms of specific problems, your diagnosis
at the beginning of this course must now be
changed m light of the work that you have
accomplished

Note also that if your present survey indi-
cates the solution of some problem, such as
reading rate, you still have to practice fur-
ther m order to make this skill habitual and
lasting

What are some of the bases by which you
may evaluate your present status?

1. A retest on some of the tests that you
took initially and on which you did poorly
will indicate the extent of your gams and the
present status of these problems Tests com-
parable to some of these first ones are avail-

able for retesting and may be obtained from
the publishers ^

2 These remeasured basic skills, while
important, represent only a small part of
what you have been working on this term.
Also measure your improvement in the
quality of your notebook and class papers, in
your study habits, in your use of time, in
your ability “to concentrate,” and in your
ability to predict quiz questions and take
tests.

3 You should include an evaluation of
your social and vocational adjustments and
the steps that you are taking toward tlieir
improvement

4 Your conferences with your counselor
about various problems also offer a good
basis for the analysis of your present prob-
lems.

5 There are probably some traits on
which you did not know your relative stand-
ing before tahng this course This new
orientation should have assisted in your
school adjustment.

Your problem in this project, then, is to
(1) state your present status in terms of all
these measures, (2) evaluate the gams you
have made, and (3) outline tlie program of

^Rate and comprehension accuracy, “Russian
History” or “Canadian History," Ohio Slate Univ
Press Vocabulary, Form B (Part II of General
Reading Test), State Department of Educabon,
State Office Bmldmg, Columbus, Ohio English
Sutv^, Form B, State Department of Education,
State Office Bmldmg, Columbus, Ohio.

i 82 effective study PROJECT XIV

remedial work that you plan to carry on
after this course You can best do this with
an informal essay coveiing these points, it is
to be handed to the counseloi not later than
the last day of class before exam week
Your counselor will be glad to go over
your outline before you write this paper.

and make pertinent suggestions and cor-
rections

If at a later time m your college program
you need help with any aspect of the work
that has been covered in this course, feel
free to ask your present counselor for as-
sistance.

APPENDIX I

Tests

Pages

Art Reading Rate and Comprehension Accuracy tests 185

Geology Reading Rate and Comprehension Accuracy tests 199

Special Reading Skills tables, charts, maps, and formulae 213

English Survey tests, grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and sentence
structure 223

Spelling 233

185

TESTS

Do not turn the page until tlie signal to begin reading is given
A Test of Reading Ability for
ART
by

Fiancis P Robinson and Prudence Hall
The Ohio State University

THE ARTIST’S ETERNAL QUEST OF BEAUTY *

Name Age

Grade School

1 The purpose of this test is to measure your ability to read school assignments You are to read

2 the following art selection in your usual manner of reading assignments, after ten minutes of

3 reading you will be asked to answer questions over the material read These questions will be

4 of the type generally asked in class over such readings

5 At the end of 3 minutes, 6 minutes, and 10 minutes of leading you will be asked to "Mark "

6 This means that you are to encircle quickly the number of the line that you are leading (num-

7 bered as m the left-hand margin here) and then go on immediately with your reading At the

8 end of 10 mmutes you will be asked to stop reading and to tuin to the questions which follow

9 Be accurate in notmg the last line read for you will be expected to answer questions over all the
10 material that you mark as having been read

• Used with permission from Volume F, pp 36-42, Comvtcm’s Pictured Encyclopedia, copyright, P E
Compton and Co , 1941

APPENDIX I

THE ARTIST'S ETERNAL QUEST OF BEAUTY

2 What is “ art ”? Let us begin shaping our answer to this

3 question by going back to the original meaning of the word.

4 The two letters ar foim a very ancient word root appearing
6 in many languages. Its meaning is to bind or j oin together.

6 When a man joins or bmds materials together, as pieces of

7 wood in a chair, or hnes and colors, as in a picture, he is

8 an artist — one who makes. An am, the part so beautifully

9 joined to the human shouldei, is a work of art, “the art

10 of God ” A coat of chain mail, a piece of m mor, is made

11 of many metal rings hnked mgeniously and beautifully to

12 one another. This is a work of art, the ait of man In

13 both “arm” and “armoi” the ar appears, and both imply

14 the fundamental sigmficance of art — ^joining and binding to-

15 gether To this elementary idea let us add what the gieat

16 painter Walter Sargent said “Art is not a mere skillful rep-

1 7 1 esentation of nature, but a concrete embodiment of a sigmfi-

1 8 cant range of human experience. ” Now we have a bi oad and

19 firm foundation upon which to build an understanding of

20 our subject.

21 Classes op Aet

22 The various aits are broadly divided into two classes,

23 ordmarily distinguished as the useful arts and the fine arts

24 The meamng of the former of these terms is self-evident

25 The fine arts begm when there is a conscious attempt to

26 express beauty in the form of the thmg made, and in its

27 decoration.

28 Man exposed to ram and cold builds a roof and four

29 walls withm which to be protected against the elements His

30 building is a work of useful art But suppose he makes his

31 roof project, so that it casts a deep shadow on tho walls when

32 the sun shmes, and that he makes the chimney large, so that

33 his house wiU not only be, but seem to be, a place of shelter

34 and warmth. And suppose that he sets ornamental columns

35 at either side of his door to make it at once suggestive of

36 hospitahty and beauty. Then his house does more than with-

37 stand the elements, it celebrates %ts triumph over them. This

38 IS the fine art of architecture ; a form of emotional expression.

39 And this is precisely what the fine arts are.

40 This celebratmg of the triumph theme is evidenced in

41 every form of fine art Prom the aboriginal song and dance

42 of savage wamors after battle down to the day of Sousa

43 marches, tnumph has found expression m the fine art of

44 music. Since before the time of the Greeks, it has been ex-

45 pressed m sculpture. From ancient Egyptian times it has been

46 presented m painting In every age the fine art of poetry has

47 made triumph its theme.

TESTS

48 Architecture, sculpture, painting, music, and literature

49 aie not the only fine arts Wherever there is an effoit to
60 express beauty in the form and decoration of the thing made,

51 we find a fine art, and the person who seeks to create beauty

52 thus IS an artist

53 Identification of Aktist with Object

54 The ]oy, pam, devotion, scorn, patriotism, or ecstasy
65 which the artist felt when he wrote the sonnet, composed the

56 funeral march, formed the vase, wrought the inimitable iron

57 hinges of the doors of Notre Dame of Paris is m turn felt

58 by the person who reads the sonnet, hears the march, or sees

59 the vase and the lunges Ait speaks a umversal language —

60 alanguage, as Charles Reade says, “without words, unfettered

61 by the penman’s hnuts, it can steal through the eye into

62 the heart or bram, ahke of the learned and the unlearned —

63 and is at the mercy of no translator ” This is seen in dancing,

64 a form of musical appreciation in which the hstener becomes

65 a pait of the performance, a co-worker with the composed

66 Arthur B Davies says “When I paint a wave I am the

67 wave ” True. And it is also tiue that when we look at his

68 painting of the wave we are that wave. When the painter

69 sweeps his brush over the canvas, he feels himself doing just

70 what the wave is doing He becomes, as he says, a sort of

71 conscious wave, when we sweep our eyes over the hues where

72 his brush has led, we, too, become a sort of acting, conscious

73 wave.

74 Artist Interested in Effects

75 In answer to the question “What is a wave?” the

76 scientist with his cold analytical method will explain that

77 it is the result of certain causes and principles; he will sep-

78 arate it into its elements, and will point out the relations

79 of the wave to other thongs. He will always lead away fiom

80 the wave itself. The artist, on the other hand, forces atten-

81 ti on solely to the wave “The real woik of art,” it has been

82 said, “leads nowhere, and its frame ends the world ” In

83 general, art may be said to show effects, not to seek their

84 causes.

85 The fine arts make us share the hope, fear, aspiration,

86 joy, and sorrow of humamty, because a work of fine art is

87 always the expression of one or the other of these Whistler,

88 the most famous American pamter, said, “The artist is to

89 arrest and typify m materials the harmomous and inter-

90 blended rhythms of nature and humamty.”

91 Nature and Pine Arts

92 Another way of explaining fine arts is to say that they

93 are what man makes out of the mspiration which he receives

94 from nature. He is so profoundly impressed that he must

187

APPENDIX

95 give utterance to his feelings, and he does so in a hymn of

96 ]oy, a nobly formed statue, a perfectly proportioned vase,

97 or the pattern and colors of an oriental rug In all art, he

98 seeks to preserve the significance of the passing moment —

99 in the joy of seemg a sea-sheU or a fern frond and fixing

100 some of that joy which nature has given him in the shape

101 of a silver basin or an lomc capital, or m the hne of a

102 drawing

103 The arts thus inspired by nature put us into a state of

104 receptive calm. They first make captive our imagination or

105 our ]oy in sight or sound; and then, through the unity and

106 mtensity of their mterest, they grip our whole consciousness

107 until, hke the children and the Pied Piper, we forget all else

108 and follow. Even m this cahn, however, there is a sort of

109 activity, for when we aie enjoymg a lyric, a musical rhap-

110 sody, a symphony of color, a bit of Roman glass, or a fine

111 fabric, we are hvmg as mtensely as at any other time, but

112 we are free of the conscious effort of hvmg.

114 What Aktistic “Unity" Means

115 To give this feehng of calm, a work of art must have

116 but one theme, it must be free within itself from conflicting

117 attractions or suggestions; that is, it must have umty,

118 Whether it be sonnet, picture, vase, or cathedral, it must at

119 a glance give one umfied impression. That impression may

120 be simple, as is that produced by the architecture of a Greek

121 temple, it may be as complex as is that given by the cathe-

122 dral of Amiens. But it must be one It may be imposmg,

123 as m Michelangelo’s statue of Moses; or it may be delicate,

124 as m the carvings of the Japanese, but it must produce an

125 unconfused impression. It may be brought about by com-

126 bining many similar forms, colors, hnes, or ideas until they
12? add power to one another, as in the poems of Milton and in

128 the paintmgs of Corot. It may be brought about by leading

129 the attention to an unUkeness in certain related things, as

130 in Keats’ sonnet ‘On the Grasshopper and the Cricket,’ which

131 brings out a contrast. But in any case, a single impression

132 must result.

133 Nature doesnot always give us simple relations, and so, if

134 he would produce pictorial beauty, the artist must make many

135 changes m the “landscape with figures aimd which we dwell."

136 He must select, arrange, subdue, and accent the elements

137 of his work so that they will produce the mood or set forth

138 the idea which he is endeavormg to present. He must not

139 admit confusion, the enemy of all the fine arts, unless it is

140 a part of the subject matter, as for example, the picture of a

141 volcanic eruption. It must never be a part of his techmque.

142 Whistler said* “Nature contains the elements, in color and

143 form, of aU pictures (of all varieties of fine art), as the

TESTS

189

144 keyboard contains the notes of all music. But the artist is

145 born to pick and choose, and group with science, these

146 elements that the result may be beautiful ”

147 The Meaning op “Composition”

148 This process of selection and arrangement is called ‘ ‘ com-

149 position ” For illustration we turn to pamtmg When, in

150 looking over the fields, we send our glance from the trees

151 to the hills beyond them, when we remove our eyes from

152 a person to whom we are speaking, to the walls ]ust behind

153 him; when, in fact, we leave off looking at any one thing

154 and look at somethng either farther away or nearer than

155 that at which we were looking before, our eyes change

156 their focus in somewhat the way the focus of a camera is

157 changed to suit varying distances Now, if the artist were

158 to try to paint in one picture the hills as he sees them

159 when looking directly at them, or the trees, or the clouds,

160 he would have a pictme with as many separate interests

161 as it contained objects — a picture which would never have

162 unity or give repose of any sort. So the artist must select

163 some one thing for the mam theme of his picture, and

164 to this he must subordinate all other thmgs which occur

165 in it.

166 In nature it is sufiicient if the form of a tree be

167 beautiful against the sky; in a pictme the visible shapes

168 of sky seen through the tree must be equally beautiful. The

169 picture, since it is all to be seen at once, must be a beau-

170 tiful pattern in which every shape is fine. Consistency of

171 character, which has been called harmony, consistency of

172 attractions, which has been called balance, and consistency

173 of movement, which has been called rhythm, will keep all

174 elements of the work together m an mtegral whole. Here

175 again the artist in formmg his work must exercise his aesthetic

176 judgment, varying fiom nature’s appearances, if need be, to

177 bring finer proportion into his work, to give it more perfect

178 unity and deeper meamng.

179 Corot’s landscape ‘Mormng’ has now come to be called

180 ‘The Dance of the Nymphs ’ Is this because there is a group

181 of tiny figures at the bottom — ^who m truth are scarcely

182 dancing and who may hardly be called nymphs? Or is it

183 because of the witchery of that flowmg movement which

184 takes us from the bottom up mto the picture, aeioss the

185 top and down the other side, lastly circhng round and round

186 the bit of sky in the center, leading us, befoie we know it,

187 in an airy dance through the treetops? The httle figures

188 give the keynote — ^they form a statement of the theme,

189 Morning, Happiness, Dancing. Butevenif they were suddenly

190 to whisk themselves out and disappear on the other side of

APPENDIX I

191 the tangled shrubbery, the movement of the picture would

192 still go on, and it would still be a dance of the nymphs

194 Turner’s great picture ‘The Fighting Temeraire’ ex-

195 presses a contrastmg mood. What is there about this pic-

196 ture to show that this ship is the heroine of England’s

197 battles that she is — or to tell us that she is being towed

198 away for biealong up? And yet Ruskin says that of all

199 pictures not visibly involving human pain, this is the saddest

200 What has the artist done to make us feel the solemnity of

201 this occasion? We see a sheet of still water under a

202 gieat bending sunset sky On the othei side a tall ship is

203 coming up, towed by a black tugboat Long ripples aie thrown

204 to left and right, and thin smoke pouis back from the funnel

205 of the tug Shadows are gathering from all sides, and there

206 are the buildings of a gieat city beyond in the gloom. Con-

207 sider the use of hues. Are they hke those merry ones that

208 circle round the canvas of Corot’s ‘Morning’? Or are they

209 the hues which we see in the solemn gioves of pine or

210 cypiess, m the desert, and in the great cathedrals? Are

211 they like the figures in a funeral march? Has the artist

212 accepted Nature only as he found her?

214 Message of Art is a Mood

215 The beauty of a picture, a piece of music, a Greek vase

216 does not he m pleasing the emotions alone. Perhaps it is

217 impossible for the emotions to be stirred at all without the

218 mind receiving some deeper message thiough it Thus, art

219 IS a sort of language, but the message which that lan-

220 guage has to give is not an intellectual one. Art does not

221 exist primarily to set forth facts The message from a

222 picture, like that of the music or from the vase, comes as

223 an experience, a mood which the work awakens within us,

224 and not as a story which the thing itself tells A Bokhara

225 rug may be of “sleepy coloring’’ and give us the repose of

226 twilight as we contemplate it, a clear melody may give

227 us the same feehngs as a view from a mountain top, a dash

228 of thrillmg color may be to us hke a battle-hymn, the

229 curve of a vase may absorb our whole being Such, and

230 numerous otheis, are the artistic messages we may receive

231 if we fit ourselves to receive them, instead of the common-

232 place message that “here is a man and he is doing so and

233 so ” These are the feelings which come to us stiaight from

234 the heart of the artist himself, even though he be cen-

235 tunes in his grave The tree, the figure, and the incident

236 are merely the words of the message Its charm or inspiia-

237 tion IS something very different We are aware of this when

238 we look at a 13th-century stained glass window, a silver

239 teapot by Paul Revere, or the spire of a great cathedral.
241 Three principal considerations compel an artist to turn

TESTS

242 away from attempting to copy nature slavishly Of these,

243 doubtless the chief is the desire for expression of emotion

244 Intimately related to this is the second, namely absolute

245 beauty, a beauty other than that which is associated with

246 the subject as being merely one of the many things in life.

247 ThisisfeelingforbeautywhichJeanSimeon Chardin (French,

248 1699-1779) or Emil Cailsen (American, 1853-1932) get into

249 a picture of such objects as a ragged book, a cut of meat, or
260 a battered copper pot And so we see why beauty may be

251 defined as being a light which shines about a thing and is

252 not the thing itself The third deals with the tianslation of

253 the three-dimensional aspect of nature mto the two-dimen-

254 sional limits of a picture or a pure pattern Artists whose

255 aim is merely to portray nature are busy with only the vocabu-

256 lary of art and not the ideas , with externals and not emotional

257 reactions. These three considerations give artists a working

258 giammar of art, the means, along with the vocabulary, of

260 expressing themselves, but their expression in terms of beauty

261 and permanence — ^be it in pottery, weaving, metal working,

262 painting, architecture, or poetry of deep human experience

263 — ^is the great purpose of them all Its attainment stamps

264 the seal of success on all that can properly be called “the

265 fine arts ” Without this successful expression of experience

266 or emotion, it becomes mere slavish reproduction

266 Inbustkial Aets

267 By industrial arts, decorative arts, we understand all

268 those things which make our dwelling rooms attractive Wil-

269 ham Morris, an Englishman (1834-1896), started a move-

270 ment to increase the beauty of common objects and to add

27 1 beauty to machine-made obj ects of daily use Thi s revolution

272 m taste spread over Europe and the Umted States. Since

273 the opening of the 20th century France has done a similar

274 thing with distinguished, far-reachmg success At present

275 the improvement of taste and the betteiment of design in

276 our own country are making great headway through the in-

277 terest of educational institutions and the suppoit of manu-

278 facturers and retail establishments Artists are being asked

279 to bring their traimng and taste to bear on labels, packages,

279 and even the shapes of products

280 Cycles in Art's History

281 The story of art from ancient to present times is a record

282 of many changes, tendencies, and attainments Once these

283 have run their course, they seem to begm all over and repeat,

284 like a wave which rises to its crest and then subsides to its

285 trough again and again First, m every fine ait, come a child-

286 like technique and strong emotion, as seen, for example, in

287 the drawings of children in Cizek’s classes, or the glazed

192

APPENDIX I

288 pottery horses of the ancient Chinese Later comes the stage

289 of developed techmque, in which emotion is still strong, as,

290 for mstanee, m a Paul Potter bull, a Rembrandt landscape,

291 a statue by Michelangelo. Last comes a consuming passion

292 for realism, the effort to make everything — picture, carpet

293 or wall-paper design, sculpture — deceptively real to vie with

294 nature, not to create In the industrial arts this tendency

295 IS seen in an extreme concern for detail, as in flower-painted

296 Chinese jars as compared with Dresden ware, ornamented

297 with naturalistic flowers in rehef

298 After a period of reahsm, which is the siren that lures

299 all the arts to destruction, comes reaction to pure design and

300 pattern Many beheve that we are ]ust now entering such a

301 period. They beheve that modernistic art, although it is pro-

302 ductive of some absurdity, is none the less leading to bettei

303 things What was considered beautiful in eai her days IS still

304 a part of the beautiful, but it does not impress us today as it

305 did then. As life changes, so does beauty, and since the flne

306 arts express hfe, they are affected by the tempo and the spirit

307 of change and eflflciency in present-day living In geneial,

308 the modern tendency is toward simplicity and usefulness

309 Fine Arts in the Schools

310 There is no better witness to the fact that the fine arts

311 help to explain hfe and add happiness to it than the marked

312 increase of interest in them which present-day education is

313 showmg. Methods of teachmg focus attention on making

314 them means of self-expression One of the world’s successful

315 art teachers of children, the famous Prof P Cizek of Vienna,

316 assigns a subject, such as Spring, or Autumn, and leaves

317 each child to mvent his own expression by using the forms

318 and facts which he has gathered from his own experience

320 Startlingly fresh and often beautiful have been the results,

321 for example, the ‘Dog and Ducks’ by a 13-year-old child

322 Opportunities are given for actual work with the materials

323 and tools of various fine arts Through successes and failures

324 the pupils learn of the difficulties involved, and their sense of

325 appreciation and selection is thereby awakened as m no
325 other way.

325 How TO Appreciate Art

326 How can we learn to appreciate good pictures, sculpture,

327 engraving, and other forms of fine art, when there are so many

328 kinds, and so many conflictmg opinions about them? There are

329 no sure rules foi doing this any more than for appreciating

330 good hterature; but a few suggestions have been helpful.

331 First of all, never try to force your likings. Give them

332 a chance to develop by looking at all kinds, especially heed

333 what good authorities call excellent. Second, never condemn

TESTS

334 a work of fine art because its subject does not appeal, or is

335 absolutely distasteful to you. Distinguish between the picture

336 or object as an arrangement of color, shadow, line, and mass,

337 and as the portrayal of a specific subject. Look for patterns

338 as apart from the details which express them. Look for

339 rhythms. Look for deft lines that bmd the parts into one

340 umfied whole. Heed with utmost care the picture that at first

341 glance gives you a single clear impression. Look for strength

342 first, and admire dehcacy afterward. Be neither intellectually

343 brow-beaten by a great name — ^the greatest have their weak

344 moments — ^nor contemptuous in the presence of an unloxown

345 one Use eyes and mind wherever pictures aie concerned

346 and be glad when they make your heart beat rapidly Remem-

347 ber George Meredith’s words, “He who sees well is king of

348 what he sees; eyesight is haymg.”

TESTS

Do not look at the next two pages until after text is read.
QUESTIONS

195

for

ART READING TEST

Francis P Robinson and Prudence Hall
The Ohio State University

Directions I

Note the number of the last line you had read at the end of 10 minutes Turn this page and find
the number m the left-hand margin which is just equal to, or just less than, this numbei Draw a
line across the page under the question thus numbered and then answer each of the questions down
to this line

After you have answered these questions, read Directions II and do what it requests

Directions II

Write in below the three numbers which you encircled in the text at the end of 3 mmutes, 6 minutes,
and 10 minutes of reading

Rath of Rbadinq . .

COMPKBHENSION ACCURACY

No right
No tned

3 minute Ime
6 minute Ime
10 mmute Ime *

percentile

% right

percentile

* This value for the 10-minute interval also equals the average number of words read per minute during
this tune

APPENDIX I

196

In the left-hand margin there is a series of “line numbers ” Find the number that is equal to,

or just less than, the number of the last Ime you read Mark this and do not answer questions beyond

this point

line

20 What IS the fundamental quahty of art? (1) joinmg together (2) beauty

(3) perspective (4) skillful representation (5) balance (1)

20 Art IS a skillful representation of nature as m a photograph . .. (2) T F

26 What are the two classes of art? (1) useful (2) practical (3) fine (4) in-
dustrial (5) hterary (3)

(4)

40 To what class of art does a hand-tooled leather purse belong? (1) useful

(2) practical (3) fine (4) industrial (5) hterary (5)

47 The theme that is celebrated in every form of fine art is (1) beauty (2)

representation (3) decoration (4) triumph (5) deficiencies of world (6)

52 An artist is a person who (1) copies (2) creates what is beautiful (7)

73 The painter identifies himself with the object of lus art (8) T F

73 The observer identifies himself with the art object he is observing (9) T F

84 The artist is more concerned with causes than effects (10) T F

89 The fine arts deal almost entirely with the hopes and aspiiations of hu-
manity and with that which is good in life (11) T F

102 Where does the artist ultimately get his inspiration? (1) himself (2) na-
ture (3) history of race (12)

113 What effect do the arts have upon one viewing them? (1) mouse him to
criticism (2) free him from the conscious effort of hving (3) inspire him
to create a work of art (4) soothe his nerves (13)

132 A work of art may have how many themes? (1) only one (2) related ones

(3) many (4) themes within a theme (14)

135 The artist must simphfy the relationship he finds among the objects he

portrays (16) T F

141 It would never be artistic to portray the havoc of a battlefield as it

realty is (16) T F

149 By what name is the process of selection and arrangement known? (1)

composition (2) consistency (3) umty (4) subordmation . (17)

165 In developing a scene depiotmg “Jealousy,” the prmciple of unity would
suggest the use m this picture of (1) all three people m the triangle (2)
two of these people (3) the jealous peison only (4) any of these or other
combmations of persons that would best depict your theme (18)

165 TiTiy should some things in a pmntmg appear to be out of focus? (1) it
is a more skillful techmque (2) that is the way they look m real life (3)
to give a single impression (4) the artist does not have time to concen-
trate on less important aspects . , . , (19)

TESTS

197

line

173 Consistency of attractions in a picture is called harmony (20) T F

178 In this process of selection and arrangement, what three thmgs are im-
portant? (1) beauty (2) haimony (3) focus (4) curved hues (6) balance
(6) perspective (7) rhythm (21)

( 22 )

(23)

193 Why IS Corot’s landscape “Morning” also called the “Dance of the
Nymphs”? Because of (1) the three figures (2) the movement m the
painting (3) the consistency (4) the iipphng water (24)

213 What IS the theme of Turner’s “Fighting Temeraire”? (1) bravery (2)

sadness (3) glory of war (4) iiony (5) sternness (25)

213 The theme of these two pictures is produced primarily by (1) the selec-
tion of objects in the paintmg (2) the flow and direction of the lines (3)
the titles used (26)

224 The message of art is primarily (1) intellectual (2) a mood (3) emotional

(4) an inspiration (27)

240 The message of art is to present the beauty of the scene rather than to

use a scene to present the beauty which the artist is expeiiencing (28) T F

255 What three considerations compel the artist to turn away fiom trying
to copy nature slavishly? (1) artistic scruples (2) absolute beauty (3)
principles of design (4) desire to improve upon nature (5) desire for
expression of emotions (6) knowledge of the futility of trying to copy
nature (7) translation of three-dimensional aspects to the canvas (29) . ...

(30) .

279 According to the text, the industnal arts resemble the fine arts more

closely than they resemble the useful arts (32) T F

285 The stages of art history (1) go in cycles (2) pi ogress with frequent re-
gression (3) occasionally regress, by accident (4) are leading to a fifth
and new stage (33)

296 List the following stages of art history m chronological order (1) reahsm

(2) childlike techmque (3) developed technique (34)

300 What IS the siren that leads all the arts to destruction? (1) surreahsm

(2) reahsm (3) simplicity (4) cubism (5) impressionism (6) classicism (35)

308 In general, according to the text, the modern tendency is toward (1)

reahsm (2) simphcity and usefulness (3) classicism (36)

315 How IS art taught in the schools? (1) self-expression (2) copying art

forms (3) studying about artists (37) . , .

330 Authorities are agreed upon a theory of art. . (38) T F

348 To appreciate ait, one should confine his study to works of great masters (39) T F

APPENDIX I

348 Which, m each of the following pairs, is more important to consider in

judging a work of art?
(1) subject portrayed ve

! (2) arrangement of color, shadow, line and
mass

(40)

(1) patterns ve

s (2) details

(41)

(1) strength V£

1 . (2) dehcacy

(42)

TESTS

Do not turn the page until the signal to begin reading is given.

199

A Test of Eeading Abihty for
GEOLOGY
by

Francis P Robinson and Prudence Hall
The Ohio State University

THE WONDROUS STORY WE READ IN THE ROCKS *

Name A.S®

Grade School

Directions

1 The purpose of this test is to measure your abihty to read school assignments You are to

2 read the following geology selection m your usual manner of reading assignments, after ten

3 minutes of leudmg you will be asked to answer questions over the mateiial read These questions

4 will be of the type generally asked in class over such leadlng^

6 At the end of 3 minutes, 6 imnutes, and 10 minutes of reading you will be asked to “Maik ”

6 This means that you are to encircle quicldy the numbei of the line that you aie reading (num-

7 bered as in the left-hand maigin here) and then go on immediately with your leading At the

8 end of 10 minutes you will be asked to stop leading and to turn to the questions which follow

9 Be accurate in noting the last hne lead for you mil be effected to answer questions over all the
10 material that you mark as liavmg been lead

® tJsea with permission from Volume GH, pp 39-46j Compton’s Pictured EncyclopediOy Chicago P Ei
Compton and Co , 1941,

APPENDIX I

THE WONDROUS STORY WE READ IN THE ROCKS

2 Geology is the science which deals with the history of the

3 earth It is the task of geology not simply to recite the history

4 of the earth so far as it is Imown, but to show how this his-

5 tory became known and how the himts of knowledge are being

6 extended Geology is a young science, and in its study at the

7 present time it is needful to take account of the limitations

8 of present knowledge as well as of the knowledge itself

10 Everything which throws light on the histoiy of the earth

11 falls withm the field of geology. The history of the atmosphere

12 and the history of the ocean are really parts of geology, since

13 the atmosphere and the ocean are paits of the earth The

14 popular impression, therefore, that geology has to do only with

15 the locks of the earth is not altogether adequate. The rocks

16 of the earth, to be sure, furnish the larger part of the data

17 for unravelmg the history of the earth, though they aie not

18 the only sources of mformation. It is to be remembered, too,

19 that when the geologist studies the rocks, he studies them for

20 the fight they can be made to throw on earth-history, rather

21 than for their own sake

23 How Earth Rehearses the Story of Her Life

24 In working out the history of the eaith, so far as it has

25 been worked out, the line of approach has been through the

26 study of the changes which are now taking place on the earth’s

27 surface. The ram falls on the land, and some of it gathers

28 mto streams, and the streams flow into the sea. In the flow

29 of the water the substance of the land is worn away. The

30 material is caiTied to the sea and deposited there in the foim

31 of gravel, sand, mud, etc. The sand and mud need nothmg

32 but cementation to become sandstone and shale, two of the

33 commonest sorts of rocks found on the land. The process of

34 cementation is now going on by natural means in many places

35 In the sand and the mud, as they are deposited m the sea,

36 shells of vanous ammals are imbedded The shale and sand-

37 stone of the land also contain shells and other traces of marine

38 ammals known as fossils Hence it is inferred that the sand-

39 stone and shale, as well as certain other sorts of rock found

40 in the land, originally were deposited as beds of sand and mud

41 in the sea, and that they have smee been elevated so as

42 to become dry land.

45 The activities of other surface agencies are studied sim-

46 ilarly. The detailed study of the work now being done by

47 rain and rivers, underground water, waves and currents, the

48 atmosphere, glaciers, changes of temperature, gravity, organic

49 agencies, and all other forces and activities operative on the sur-

50 face of the earth, has taught geologists how to interpret the rocks

51 formed in ages long past. It is by the interpretation of the re-

TESTS

62 corded results of the past, in the hght of the processes now taking
53 place, that the science of geology has giown up The study of
64 present processes is becoming more and more exhaustive, and the

55 application of this increased knowledge of present processes to

56 the records of the past is contmually enlargmg and perfecting

57 our knowledge of the earth’s history.

58 The Mtstert in the Woked’s Beginnings

59 Geology really begins with the origm of the earth, and at

60 this point it touches the field of astronomy The early ages of

61 the eaith’s history are as yet speculative. There seems to be good

62 reason for doubting the truth of the “nebular hypothesis,” which

63 was long regarded as satisfactory. The only rival hypothesis

64 which has been framed is the “planetesimal hypothesis,” which

65 supposes that the earth is made up of an aggregation of small

66 bodies comparable to the meteorites and shootmg stars which

67 daily reach the earth by milhons at the present time. While the

68 stages of the earth’s history preceding the beginning of sedi-

69 mentation are largely conjectmal, many lines of mvestigation

70 are being pursued which ultimately may throw much light on

71 the early and obscure stages of the earth’s development. The

72 general outhnes of this history smce sedimentation began are

72 fairly well understood.

73 Classes oe Rocks

73 The rocks of the earth which contam the prmcipal record

74 of the earth’s history are of three great classes (1) igneous

75 rocks, or those which represent solidified lava; (2) sedimentary

76 rocks, as shale, sandstone, conglomerate, etc , most of which are

77 made up of fragments of older locks, and (3) metamorphic

78 rocks, which may have been so far altered by various means that

79 they are now very unlike the materials from which they were

80 first made. In the metamorphism of rocks, pressure is the most

81 important agent. Chemical change, under the mfluence of mois-

82 ture, is probably second in importance , and heat thu d A special

83 class of sedimentary rocks is due to hfe. Here belong most hme-

84 stones, made of shells, corals, etc ; coal, of plant oiigin, and a

85 number of lesser formations

86 The composition, position, and structure of these several

87 sorts of rock and their fossil contents, so far as they contain

88 fossils, Intel preted in the hght of processes now taking place,

89 allow geologists to infer the conditions under which the various

90 sorts of rocks are made When geologists are able to tell what

91 the conditions were on every part of the earth at every period

92 of the past, the science of geology will be complete.

93 Economic Geology

94 Among the many branches of the science, economic geology

95 is one of the most important It deals with the materials of

96 the earth’s crust which are commercially valuable, and has to

302 ,

APPENDIX I

97 do with ores of all sorts, with coal, with building stone, with

98 clays which are valuable for the manufacture of brick and pot-

99 tery, and the hke. It deals also with mateiials which can be

100 used for pigments, sand, used for malang glass; with precious

101 stones, with abrasive materials, with asphalt um, peti oleum,

102 natural gas, salt, fertihzers, etc One function of economic geol-

103 ogy IS to determine the ongm of these substances and, so far as

104 possible, the laws which govern their distribution

104

105

106
107

108

109

110

111

111

Five Vast Chaptees in Earth’s Story

Geologic tune is divided into five eras, and most of these
are divided into several periods, as shown in the following table
reading from the present to the i emote past

Bras

Cenozoic

Mesozoic

Paleozoic

Proterozoic

Archeozoic

( Quaternary (including glacial)
Phocene )

Miocene Irp .

Ohgooene Prtiary
Eocene j
Upper Cretaceous
Lower Cretaceous
Jurassic
Tnassic

Permian 1
Pennsylvanian | Carboniferous
Mississippian J
Devonian

Ordovician (= Lower Silurian)

Silurian (= Upper Silurian)

Cambrian

Algonkian

Archean

111 Archeozoic Era Formation of Oldest Rocks

112 The Archeozoic era was the time occupied in the making

113 of the oldest known system of rocks The Aichean rocks aie

114 mostly metamorphosed igneous rocks, though with them are

115 some metamorphic sedimentary rocks Fossil algae have been

116 found in this system of rocks, and it is certain that life existed

117 before the close of this era

117 Proterozoic Era Long Period op Sedimentation

118 The Proterozoic era is the time during which were deposited

119 the greatest system of rocks lymg above the Archeozoic and

120 below the oldest rocks containmg abundant fossils. The rooks

121 of the Proterozoic era are mainly sedimentary, though igneous

122 rocks have great development locally The formations of the

123 Proterozoic era are many thousands of feet thick, though com

TESTS

203

124 siderable portions have been removed by erosion. The Protero-

125 ZOIC era was perhaps as long as all subsequent time Some forms

126 of life existed duimg this eia, as is shown by the few fossils

127 which have been found m the rocks, and by the nature of

128 some of the formations, even where fossils aie wanting. For

129 example, theie are black shales and graphitic slates, the carbon

130 of which probably is of plant origm The Proterozoic (Algon-

131 kian) locks of the Lake Superior region contain rich deposits

132 of iron and copper.

133 Paleozoic Era The Rahge oe Life and the Origin of Coal

134 The Paleozoic (formerly called Primary) era was the time

135 when the several systems of rocks bearmg the names Cambi lan,

136 Ordovician,Silurian,Devoman,MississippianandPennsylvaman

137 (Carboniferous), andPermianweredeposited Thetime occupied

138 in the deposition of each of these systems is a period These

139 systems of locks aie mainly of sedimentary origm, and the

140 materials of which they are composed were derived from the laud

141 aieas existing when these systems were being laid down Most

142 of the materials of the systems were washed down from the land

143 to the sea, and there deposited The several systems of Paleozoic

144 1 ocks are distinguished from one another by their fossils Thus,

145 the fossils of the Cambrian system of rocks are sufficiently un-

146 like those of the Ordovician system to be readily distinguished

146 by those famihar with fossils

147 Even at the beginmng of the Cambrian period the range

148 of hfe was great, aU the great types which now hve except

149 the vertebrates being represented Even the vertebrates may

150 have lived, though rehcs of then existence have not been found.

161 In this period trilobites and brachiopods seem to have been

162 the most abundant and characteristic hfe. In the rocks of the

163 Ordovician system fish remams have been found, and also rehcs
154 of air-breathmg life, Mollusks, orinoids, and corals lived in
165 great profusion, in addition to the types of life which pre-

156 dominated in the Cambrian period. Most of the oil and gas

157 of Ohio and Indiana has come from rocks of the Ordovician

158 age

159 In the Silurian period the same general types of hfe were

160 prevalent, but the species are so unlike those of the preceding

161 period as to be readily distmgmshed by those fanuliar with

162 fossils The Devonian period is often known as the Age of

163 Fishes, on account of the abundance of fish remains in the

164 rocks of this system. It is far from certam, however, that

165 fish were more abundant than now, and the variety of fish

166 probably was less than at the present time. The Devonian was,

167 however, the first period when fishes were abundant, so far as

168 now known The oil of Pennsylvania and Canada is largely

169 derived from beds of Devonian age.

170 During the Mississippian period, animal hfe seems to have

20/j,

APPENDIX I

171 become notably more abundant, and some beds of coal were

172 formed, though coal is more characteristic of the next system

173 Much oil has been derived from the Mississippian system of

174 rocks in Ilhnois. Durmg the Peimsylvanian period there were

175 extensive marshes m the Umted States and in some other parts

176 of the world, m which vegetable matter accumulated m great

177 quantity. These marshes (peat-bogs) subsequently weie sab-

178 merged, and the vegetable matter buiied by mud, sand, etc ,

179 and ultimately convei ted into coal Most of the coal of the United

180 States east of the Great Plams was accumulated at this period

181 Plant life was abundant, but the plants were largely of types

182 now extinct. Land animals of early reptilian types were common

183 The Mississippian, Pennsylvanian and Permian periods some-

183 times are called the Carbomfeious period

184 The Permian peiiod represents a transition stage between

185 the Paleozoic and the Mesozoic eras In the Permian period there

186 was extensive glaciation in Austraha, South Africa, India, and

186 South America

187 The several systems of Paleozoic rooks have somewhat dif-

188 ferent distribution, and, smce the area of the deposits of any

189 period corresponds approximately with the submerged area of

190 that penod, the distribution of the several systems helps us to

191 understand the relations of land and water during the several

192 periods. In this way it is known that the relations of sea and

193 land were different at different times It would appear either that

194 the continent repeatedly rose and sank, causing areas which were

195 at one time submerged to become land, and vice versa; or that

196 the sea-level itself rose and fell. If the sea-level rose, it would

197 overspread the low lands , if it were lowered, it would cause areas

198 which had been submerged to become land How far the many

199 changes m geography during the Paleozoic era were the result

200 of land oscillations, and how far they were the result of oscilla-

201 tions of sea-level, never has been determined. So far as present

202 knowledge goes, it would appear that the deep-sea bottom has

203 at no time been land, and that the areas which were alternately

204 above and below sea-level were low when they were land, and

205 covered by shallow water only when they were submerged

206 Mesozoic Era. When Giant Eeptiles Ruled the Land

207 The Mesozoic (formerly called Secondary) era, as the term

208 indicates, was the era when life mtermediate between the ancient

209 and the present existed This era is divided into several periods,

210 as indicated above The Triassic formations of North America

211 are somewhat widespread m the western third of the continent,

212 but have but httle development m the eastern part. During

213 this penod reptiles perhaps were the dominant type of life. They

214 were not only numerous but the individuals attained great size.
216 The earliest known remams of mammals date from this period.

TESTS

216 Marine life abounded, but departed notably from the types which

217 had prevailed m the Paleozoic era. Vegetation was abundant,

218 but of types now extmct or lare

219 The Jurassic period followed, and the distribution of its

220 formations is similar to that of the Triassic formations The life

221 of this period was somewhat different from that of the preceding,

222 though the same general types abounded Reptiles were the most

223 distinctive type, and they were even larger than in the preceding

224 period The oldest remains of birds yet found are Jurassic

225 The J urassic period was followed by the Cretaceous (Chalk)

226 periods. In the early part of the first period chalk was not

227 being deposited, but m the later part chalk deposits were in

228 process of formation m many parts of the earth. The chalk

229 deposits are made up, for the most part, of the shells of minute

230 marine animals. The Cretaceous formations of North America

231 are much more widespread than those of the Jurassic and

232 Triassic periods. Their distribution indicates that a large part

233 of the North American continent was submerged during part

234 of the later Cretaceous periods It was durmg the Upper Cre-

235 taceous that modern t3rpes of plants and fishes made their ap-

236 pearance. During the last stages of the Cretaceous periods

237 extensive coal beds were laid down m the western Umted States.

238 Cenozoic Eba : Exit the Monstbes, Enteb the Mammals

239 The Cenozoic era, or era of modern life, followed the

240 Mesozoic Mammals, the earliest remains of which were found

241 in the rocks of the Triassic system, abounded during the

242 Cenozoic era, while the huge reptiles which had been especially

243 characteristic of the Mesozoic era had disappeared. Reptiles

244 still existed, but they were of relatively small types, and their

245 numbers appear to have been few. An the Cenozoic era pro-

246 grossed, the forms of life approached more and more closely to

247 those of the present time, and by the end of the Phocene the

248 life was nearly the same as that which now exists.

249 One theory ascribes this change from Mesozoic to Cenozoic

250 life to a change in climate and ground suiface. Before the

251 change much of the ground was marshy, and smce under such

252 conditions size and power were more important than speed for

253 survival, ponderous reptile forms dommated the earth Then

254 geologic changes drained off the water, created large areas of

255 hard ground surface suited to running, and supplanted the

256 luxurious swampy vegetation with modern ‘ ‘dry land’ ’ flowering

257 plants These changes gave the running types of animal, Avith

258 their speed and abihty to range far m search of food, an advan-

259 tage over the clumsy giant reptiles, which therefore gradually

259 became extinct.

260 The Quaternary (Pleistocene) period was a remarkable one,

261 on account of the great climatic changes which occurred at this

262 time. The result of these climatic changes brought on a glacial

APPENDIX I

263 climate, and an ice-sheet or senes of ice-sheets covered some-

264 thmg like 4,000,000 square imles in the northern part of North

265 America A large ice-sheet was developed, probably contempo-

266 raneously, on the continent of Europe, affecting especially its
266 northwestern part.

266 Age op the Eakth

268 The duration of the earth’s history is a matter which has

269 received much attention, but no conclusions have been reached

270 which can be rehed upon, beyond the veiy general one that

271 the histoiy of the eaith has been exceedingly long Various

272 conjectures as to the number of years occupied in bringing

273 the earth to its present condition have been made They range

274 fiom 25,000,000 years or so to 1,500,000,000 since the time of

275 the formation of the oldest rocks now accessible As stated

276 above, the Archeozic era probably was longer than all subse-

277 quent time put together. The Proterozoic era was perhaps as

278 long as all that followed The Paleozoic era was perhaps two

279 or three timesaslongasthe Mesozoic, and the Mesozoic probably

280 longer than the Cenozoic

280 Great Changes in Climate

281 The chmatic changes which the earth has undergone have

282 been great, but their causes aie not well understood. There

283 is httle basis for the belief, formerly widespread, that the climate

284 has on the whole been growing cooler Cold periods seem to

285 have alternated with warmer ones. There was local glaciation

286 in the Paleozoic eia, and extensive glaciation at the close of

287 the Paleozoic There was glaciation in the early Cenozoic era

288 and very extensive glaciation later in that era, and there is

289 some indication of cold periods at other times. On the other

290 hand the lands of high latitudes enjoyed genial climates during

291 some parts of the earth’s history, even as late as the mid-

292 Tertiary time.

293 V oleanic activity seems to have been greater at some periods

294 than at others, but on the whole it seems to have been about as

295 great, so far as now known, in late as in early stages of the

296 earth’s history, if the Archeozoic era be excepted.

297 The Work and Training of a Geologist

298 Although geology is among the youngest of the sciences it

299 is also one of the most useful Much that is useful to mankind

300 comes out of the earth. Fuel for warmth and power, stone, clay,

301 and cement for our houses, metals for makmg the machines that

302 serve the modern industrial world — all these are earth products

304 The various useful commodities are not placed within the

305 earth hke plums in a pudding without law or order Each de-

306 posit of every one of them is where it is for some good geological

307 reason The study of the origin, distribution, and laws of

308 occuirence of such deposits is part of the science of geology

309 Geology has a particularly strong appeal to the man who

310 has a love for the great outdoors, "the glory of the sun and

311 streams that murmur as they run” The earth itself is the

312 great textbook of geology, open everywhere to the one who is

313 willing and laiows how to read its lesson To become expert in

314 his science the geologist must travel widely and often to difficult

315 and dangerous places He should be proficient m all manners

316 of travel — afoot, with a pack-sack, on horseback, in the canoe,

317 and by wagon — and able to camp in forests, on the plains, or

318 m the mountains

319 Since geology is largely the apphcation of other sciences

320 to earth pi oblems, the geologist must have at least an elementary

321 knowledge of chemistry, physics, and mathematics. PIis woik

322 is largely the study of imnerals, rocks, and ores and their rela-

323 tions to one another, and particularly the relations of groups of

324 rock or rook formations to each other, and the relations of

325 mineral deposits to the various rock masses m which they are

326 found Since a large part of his busmess is the making of maps,

327 he should know surveymg and drafting.

TESTS

Do not look at the next two pages unbl after text is read.

209

QUESTIONS

for

GEOLOGY EEADING TEST

by

Francis P Robinson and Prudence Hall
The Ohio State University

Name . Age

Grade School

Directions I

Note the number of the last line you had read at the end of 10 minutes Turn this page and find
the number in the left-hand margin which is just equal to, or just less than, this numbei Draw a
line across the page under the question thus numbered and then answer each of the questions down
to this line

After you have answered these questions, read Directions II and do what it requests

Directions II

Write in below the three numbers which you encircled m the text at the end of 3 imnutes, 6 minutes
and 10 minutes of reading

[ 3 minute hne

Rate op Reading

6 mmute Ime
10 minute hne *

Comprehension Accubact

No nght
No tried

percentile

% right

percentile

^ This value for the 10-mmute interval also equals the aveiage number of words read per minute during
this time

210

APPENDIX I

In the left-hand margin there is a series of “hne numbers ” Find the number that is equal to,

or just less than, the number of the last hne you read Mark this and do not answer questions beyond

this point

hne

9 The mam object of study in geology is (1) rocks (2) the history of the
earth (3) geography (4) mmeials and oils (1)

22 Geology is interested in the history of the ocean and of the atmosphere,

as well as of rocks (2) T F

44 The piesenoe of what indicates that ceitain land rocks weie originally
in the sea? (1) sandstone (2) shale (3) marine fossils (4) cementation (5)
beds of sand and mud (3)

67 The study of the recently made "dust bowl” would be of little value to

geologists (4) T F

67 The "nebular hypothesis” says that the earth is made up of an aggrega-
tion of such things as meteoiites and shooting stars (5) T F

72 The general outlines of the earth’s history are pretty well understood
from the time (1) of origin of the earth (2) of begmning of buckling and
volcanic action (3) when sedimentation began (6)

76 Solidified lava is (1) sedimentary (2) metamorphic (3) igneous, rock (7)

85 List the following m order of their importance in the metamorphism of

rocks (1) chemical change (2) heat (3) pressure (8) .

104 Some geologists are professionally interested m finding the best clays

for making brick (9) T F

105 How many major eras are there in the earth’s history’ (1) three (2) five

(31 ten (4) eighteen (10)

113 Which era constituted the time occupied m making the oldest known

system of rocks’ (1) Proterozoic (2) Archeozoic (3) Paleozoic (11)

122 The Proterozoic era had rocks mainly of what origm? (1) sedimentary

(2) igneous (3) metamorphic (12)

127 Which one of these eras was longer than all the rest put together? (1)

Cenozoic (2) Paleozoic (3) Mesozoic (4) Proterozoic (13) .

130 The fossils of what indicate that there was life before the end of the

Archeozoic era? (1) fish (2) trees (3) algae (4) mammals (14) . ,

136 To what era do the Silurian and Mississippian periods belong? (1)

Paleozoic (2) Proterozoic (3) Mesozoic (15)

146 How does one distmguish between the various penods of the Paleozoic
era’ (1) appearance of carbon (2) levels of their rocks (3) kmds of fossils
(4) geographical location of the rocks (16)

168 Which one of the following probably did not exist dunng the Cambrian
period of the Paleozoic era? (1) Protozoa (2) algae (3) corals (4) verte-
brates (5) moUusks , . , (17)

TESTS

21:

line

165 Changes m animal life from the Cambrian penod to the Silunan penod
consisted mainly in modification of (1) complexity (2) size (3) species

(4) habitat (Igj

169 Which form of animal life was abundant in the Devonian period of the

Paleozoic eia? (1) amphibians (2) mamm«ds (3) fishes (4) protozoa (19)

176 The pciioda in which our coal beds were laid down generally preceded

those in which fossil animals are found (20) T F

183 The periods accounting for the ongm of oil generally (1) precede (2)

come at the same time as (3) follow, those which cause coal (21)

186 During the Permian period (end of Paleozoic era) there was extensive
glaciation m (1) southern hemisphere (2) northern hemispheie (3) both
southern and northern hemispheres (22)

200 The distribution of rooks in the Paleozoic era indicates that (1) there
was Gonsideiable glaciation at this time (2) the damp land aieas and
those covered by water changed consideiably (3) theie was much bending
and breaking of the earth’s surface (earthquakes and volcamc activity) (23)

210 What was the era which had life mteimediato between the present and

the ancient? (1) Proterozoic (2) Mesozoic (3) Paleozoic (4) M-cheozoic (24)

218 What form of life was most abundant during this era'’ (1) reptiles (2)

mammals (3) fish (4) birds (26)

224 Which form of life apparently made its appearance m the Jurassic period
of the Mesozoic era'’ (1) man (2) mammals (3) insects (4) birds (5)
amphibians (26)

237 What formations were numerous m the Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic

era? (1) fossils (2) sandstone (3) chalk (4) lava (27)

242 What form of life abounded in the Cenozoio era? (1) mammals (2) reptiles

(3) primates (4) birds . . (28)

248 What period of the Cenozoio era marks the end of changes in animal life
and had life forms similar to those today? (1) Eocene (2) Miocene
(S) Pliocene (29)

250 One theory ascribes the change in life from Mesozoic to Cenozoio to

change in (1) climate (2) sea level (3) evolution (30)

262 The outstanding feature of the Quarternary period of the Cenozoio era
was changes in (1) climate (2) rock foimation (3) distribution (4) forms
of life . (31)

295 How closely do geologists agree as to the age of the earth? (1) they agree
within a few thousand yeais (2) their estimates vary about 1,000,000
years (3) there are great differences (many miUions of years) in their
estimates (4) they find it impossible to make any estimate (32) .

280 The earhest era was longer than all the other eras put together (33) T F

(34) T F

280 Each succeedmg era is shorter than its predecessors

212

APPENDIX I

line

283 What is the cause of the marked changes in climate in the earth’s history?

(1) changes m sea level (2) cause is unknown (3) earth is farther from
sun (4) earth is cooling off (35)

291 The earth’s changes in chmate are charactenzed by (1) increasing cold-
ness (2) increasing heat (3) alteinatmg hot and cold periods (36)

296 Volcanic activity has decreased a great deal during the last (Cenozoic)

era as compared to the earhei ones . (37) T F

300 Geology is one of the oldest and best developed sciences (38) T F

310 A. geologist needs to know different kinds of ore when he finds them, but
there is little he can do to hmit the area over which he must search to
find them . . (39) T F

TESTS

21 ^

SPECIAL READING SKILLS

A. Reading Tables: No right out of 30

1 If a student gets 17 out of 21 questions right, what per cent does he have right?

2 If a student gets 13 out of 16 questions nght, what per cent does he have nght?

3 If a student gets 19 out of 21 questions right, what per cent does he have nght?

4 13/23 is a larger fraction than 16/27.

5 17/21 IS a larger fi action than 25/30.

6 What divided by 18 equals 78 per cent?

7 What divided by 24 equals 71 per cent?

214

APPENDIX I

Activity

Percentage of Youth

m Each Grade Group

6th Grade

7th or 8th

9th, 10th,
11th

11th or
12th,
Graduate

1, 2, or

3 Years
Beyond
High
School

4 or More
Years
Beyond
High
School

Reading

11 5

17 9

23 3

32 2

42 6

42 9

Individual spoits

12 4

13 6

15 9

15 6

15 2

18 4

Dancing, dating

12 6

10 9

15 6

14 0

10 4

8 3

Movies

9 4

12 8

13 4

10 2

8 2

7 6

Loafing

21 7

15 8

7 5

5 9

3 9

4 3

Hobbies

8 7

10 1

8 4

10 4

10 7

9 9

Team games

10 1

8 2

8 7

5 4

4 0

3 5

Listening to radio

2 8

2 4

2 3

1 8

0 9

1 0

Quiet games

2 2

1 8

1 0

0 7

0 9

1 8

Other activities

8 6

6 6

4 0

3 8

3 2

2 3

Total

100 0

100 0

100 0

100 0

100 0

100 0

Number of youth

1483

2762

2569

2885

770

396

Ta3I.Ii 13 Principal Leiaure-time Activities of Out-of-school Youth According to the Grades They
Completed (From II M Bell, Youth Tell Their Story, American Council on Education, 1938, p 166)

8. What pei cent of college graduates say that reading is their principal leisure-
time activity?

9 What per cent of out-of-schooI youth with less than a 6th-grade education say
that loafing is them principal leisure-time activity?

10 What per cent of out-of-sohool youth with a 7th- or 8th-giade education say
that hobbies are their prmcipal leisure-time activity?

11. Reading is the most popular leisure-time activity with each of the educational
divisions of the youth group

12. Youth who have been to college tend to do the following things more than do
youth who have not been to college*

a Read

b. Dancmg and datmg
c Movies ...

d Loafing

e Team games

13. Youth with some college education tend to seek more social and less mdividual
recreation than do youth without any college education,

14. Out-of-school youth with the most education tend to consider hobbies a more
important activity than do any of the other groups.

16 Out-of-school youth tend to participate more m activities which do not necessi-
tate havmg someone else around than in activities which do demand someone
else.

T F

T F
T F
T F
T F
T F

T F

T F

T F

TESTS

215

School Giade Completed

Number of
Youth

1

Median

Weekly

Wage

t Median
Weekly

Percentage
Stating
Dead-end Job

Less than 6th grade

431

* 7 84

50 5

1 53 2

6th grade

340

8 76

44 9

60 0

7th grade

708

9 27

48 7

51 5

8th giade

686

10 89

42 3

46 6

9th giade

485

13 n

45 0

46 0

10th or 11th giade, not graduate

788

14 51

42 4

44 6

llth-grade graduate

508

12 72

60 3

35 4

12th-grade graduate

1026

15 38

42 6

44 1

1 year beyond high school graduation

198

15 71

42 0

34 1

2 or 3 years beyond graduation

267

19 74

42 3

23 4

4 or more years beyond graduation

233

22 23

41 5

17 4

All youth

6679

$12 96

42 8

43 2

Table 14 Median Weekly Wages and Hours of Out-of-school Employed Youth by Grade Completed
(Fiom , pp 121, 128 )

16 The typical out-of-school employed youth earns how much per week?

17 What per cent of youth, who are college graduates and workmg, beheve they
have dead-end jobs'"

18 This study is based on how many people?

19. The largest single group of students in this table are those who have graduated

from 12th-year high school and have gone no further T F

20. Accordmg to this table, the median (as many people have more, as have less,
education than he) workmg youth has had how much education? (1) 8th grade,

(2) 9th grade, (3) 10th or 11th, but not a graduate, (4) high school graduate

21. Because he has had more time to advance before he is 25 years of age, the lugh
school graduate who goes to work tends to earn more money per week before
the age of 26, than the person who goes to college for a few years and then

goes to work T F

22 Typical youth (16-24) who work, earn about how much pei year? (1) |675,

(2) $1000, (3) 11550, (4) *2125

23 College graduates (16-24) who work earn about how much per year? (1) *1150,

(2) *1560, (3) *2100, (4) *2600

24 Persons with less education work longer hours and earn less money than persons

with more education T F

25 The less their education, the more youth consider their jobs to have httle future T P

26 At the time of this study, most youth worked less than 40 hours a week T F

APPENDIX I

tx6

B. Reading Charts No right out of 24 .

Chart 17. Increase in the Iowa Silent Reading
Test norms from grade 9 Uirough grade 13 (Based
on publisher’s norms )

Use Chart 17 to answer questions 1-6’

1 The average score during the freshman year m college is

2 At which grade is the most marked gam shown m readmg abihty?

3 On this test, the person at the 10th percentile of college freshmen is midway be-
tween the average student of what two grades?

4 Which part of the distnbution of readers shows the greatest change on entering
college? (1) highest quarter, (2) average, (3) lowest quarter, (4) lowest 10 per
cent

5 There is a greater difference withm the middle 50 per cent of 12th graders (75th
peicentile~25th percentile) than there is between the average 12th grader and
the average 9th grader.

6. The most marked change m one year is made in what year at what level?

T P

TESTS

317

THE JOES YOUTH WAHT AND THE JOBS THEY GET

WHAT THEY WANT

WHAT THEY GET

HANAGERItL

OFFICE
DR SAIESI

SKILLED

iMMM

iiD

ii

#

m

J>JX

Chart 18 The )obs employed youth ( 16-24 years of age) want, and the jobs they hold (From
Bell, op cit, page 133 )

XJse Chart 18 to answer questions 7-11

7 The type of work youth most want to enter is

8 The type of work these youth are most frequently employed m is

9 How many of these youth weie employed in unskilled laboi?

10 (1) More than half, (2) less than half, (3) half of these youth are employed m
office or sales and semiskilled labor

1 1 How many youth are employed at skilled labor? About (1) 150, (2) 225, (3) 300,

(4) 950

2i8

APPENDIX I

EXTENT TO WHICH STUDENTS AND NONSTUDENTS BELONGED TO CLUBS

(PERCENTAGE IN EACH SCHOOL GRADE GROUP OF OUT-OF-SCHOOL YOUTH)

PER CENT

SCHOOL GRADE COMPLETED BY NONSTUDENTS

Chart 19 The extent to which students and nonstudents (aged 16-24) belonged to clubs and the rela
hon of grade completed to belonging

Use Chart 19 to answer questions 12-16’

12 More out-of-school youth belong, than don’t belong, to clubs T F

13 Out-of-sohool youth who have had the most schoolmg tend to belong to more

clubs than those with less schooling T F

14 Of the group who have graduated from an 11-year high school, what per cent
don’t belong to any clubs?

15 Students belong to more clubs than youth who have left school. T F

16 Less than half of college graduates in this group belonged to clubs. T F

Use Chart 20 to answer questions 17-24

17 What per cent of entermg fieshmen graduate in the same college?

18 The greatest number of voluntary withdrawals takes place at the end of which
quarter?

19 There were more dismissals than there were withdrawals T F

20 The time of greatest change m the original class is at the end of which quarter?

21 The tune of greatest mcrease m mcommg transfers is at the begmmng of which
quarter?

22 More students are dismissed fiom school at the time of their senior year than

at any other year T F

23. The class graduatmg from the college is (1) less than half as big, (2) slightly
smaller, (3) larger than the class entermg the college as freshmen

24. More than half of the class giaduatmg from this college is made up of students

who entered this college as freshmen T F

TESTS

219

Qaqrt^K,

Chart 20 The academic history of students who enter and who graduate from a college in a university
(R D Bennett, Ohio State University, mimeographed report )

220

APPENDIX I

C. Skills in Map Reading No right out of 22

Directions Answer each question as it tells you to do

1 What letters indicate borders of states? 1

2, How many capital cities are there on this map? 2

'3 What town IS located at 1-C? 3

4. What town is located at 6-E? 4

5. What letters represent desert? 5

6. What letter represents a group of mountains almost surrounded by

desert? 6

7. Which coast (north, south, east, or west) could be called mountamous? 7

8 Is Darwin on the north, south, east, or west coast? 8

9. Is Darwin or Melbourne closer to the equator? 9

10 Is Alice Springs east or west of Wallabie? 10.

11. What town is located directly on one of the latitude lines? 11.

221

TESTS

12. Wiat town is located directly on one of the longitude lines? 12

13 What letteis indicate lakes? 13.

14 What letters indicate the ocean? 14

15. What letters indicate rivers? 15

16 What town is located on a iiver and on the coast? 16

17 What direction LS the equator from this country? 17.

18. What town is farthest south? IS

19 What town is farthest west? 19

20 Is Alice Sprmgs in the torrid zone or the temperate zone? 20

21 If one inch (| 1^' = 500 m D equals 500 miles on this map, about what

IS the greatest length of this country? 21

22. About what distance is the greatest width? 22

APPENDIX I

D. Mathematical Formulae No right out of 11

Directions’ Place the letter of the best answer m the space provided (Note The purpose of this
test 18 to measuie your ability to manipulate values in formulae For this leason some of the formulae
do not represent actual physical events, hence you cannot depend upon your knowledge of physics
to answer the questions )

1 f= ws where / = force, w - weight, s = speed In the case of a one-ounce bullet
which hits an object with the same force as a two-ounce bullet, the value of s
m the formula is (a) halved, (b) doubled, (c) squared, (d) equal

2 d= vt wheie d - distance, » = velocity, t = time Where the values of d and v
are both doubled, the value of t (a) remains the same, (b) is also doubled, (c) is
halved, (d) is squared

3 ri- mv'‘ wheie r = ladius, t = tension on string, m = mass of whirling object,
« = velocity An object at the end of a string is whirled aiound one’s head If
the length of the stiing is doubled and the velocity remains the same, what
happens to the value of f? (a) doubled, (b) halved, (c) quadrupled, (d) almost
doubled

4 FiPi = YiPi where 7i = ongmal volume, Pi = original pressure, V2 = second
volume, and Pi = second pressure If the value of Pi is twice that of Pi, the
value of 7i is how large in relation to Fi? (a) double, (b) half, (c) quadruple,
(d) squared

5 P = haDg where P = pressure at outlet, h = height of water above outlet,
a = area of outlet, D = density of liquid, and g = force of gravity The pressure
at the outlet of identical containers completely filled with different hqmds will
vary with (a) volume, (b) height, (c) area, (d) density

Q E - vDgh where E = energy lost by drop of liquid, v = velocity of drop, D =
density of drop, g = foice of gravity, and h = height drop falls If two drops of
the same size fall under identical conditions but lose different amounts of
energy, they must have differed in respect to (a) their densities, (b) the velocity
of fall, (0) the height fallen, (d) the effect of gravity

7 2ii = g& where v = velocity, g = gravity and i = time For the velocity of one
object to be 4 times as great as that of a second object, when the effects of
gravity are constant, the value of t must be (a) halved, (b) doubled, (c) quad-
rupled, (dl squaied

8. 2« =• gP where v ■= velocity, g = gravity, and t •« time Where the value of g
remains constant, doubhng the value of v has what effect on the value of t? (a)
halved, (b) doubled, (c) about 1 J times, (d) about quadrupled

9 E - where E = energy, m = mass and v = velocity When the velocity is
doubled , the value of E is (a) halved, (b) doubled, (0) squared, (d) quadrupled.

10 V = ■\/K/D where F = velocity of sound, K = & constant unchanging value,
and D = density of air As the density of air is doubled, what change occurs m
velocity of the sound? (a) decreases more than i, (b) decreases i, (c) decreases
less than J, (d) stays the same

11 t- s/^dja where t = time, d = distance, and a = acceleration If the value of
a remains unchanged while the value of d is doubled, what change occurs in
the value of tl (a) decreases about J, (b) doubles m value, (c) increases about i,
(d) decreases less than J

2

4

5

7

10

11 .

TESTS

223

ENGLISH SURVEY TEST^-FORM A

By S. L Piessey
Ohio State University

No. lines right . . . Peicentile Date

Grammar Test

Direchons In each line of the passage below, four words are undeihned In most of the lines, one of
these underlined woids is giammatically mcorrect Disregard punctuation, assume that it is coirect.

Make your answei to each line m one of the following ways (1) Wlien there is an erroi, write the
conect form of this wrong word on the hne at the left (2) When you are sure that there is no error
in the line, write a "0” to the left (3) If you do not know what the correct form is, or if you aic
uncertain whether or not theie is an erroi, leave the Ime at the left blank

Look ovei the examples below Then begin at once Woifc lapidly Yon wiU have 25 nunutes in
winch to complete this section The key foi coirecting this test is on pages 251-252.

Example

were There was money, bonds, and other valuable papers
to m the safe The boys were anxious too see the inside.

1 . It is the first day of school; each of we

2 pupils greet the teacher We have already taken

3 our seats Mary, John, and Annabelle set in the

4 front row John intends to ^ his work good this

6. yeai Sally and Richard have ask to occupy seats

0 near the wmdow I have dumb mto one of the seats m

7 the fiont row I can see easy now

8. Miss McDonald, om new teacher, has told

9 each one to do their part. We accomplish more if

10 . there w co-opeiation between us Jack don’t remember

11

the other schools that he has went to Mary is two

12

years older than I Neither Martha noi John are

13 . younger than I_ The teacher wanted to know whom my

14 father was I told ^ his name and who I was hvmg

15 with Each of us were told to legistei Algebra and

16

geometry has been easy for me, so I chose more math-

Used with the permission of the Ohio State Department of Education.

APPENDIX I

17

18

19

20
21
22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45
46 .

ematics The greater part of the ciirrieuliim are
Enghsh subjects, which k very uninterebtmg
The teacher can’t learn me English a^all
Verbs make my head ache I am sure weak m giammar
My sister has gave much time to her lessons Martha,
my older sister, don’t go to school The weakest
part of our school aie the mateiials m the labora-
tories Our prmcipal feels badly about the lack
of funds The price of supplies are high Perhaps
the prmcipal will leave me drop chemistry I shall
consider the matter very careful
Neither Jane I were able to play basketball
last year However, we never felt sadly
about ^ for we could not help ^ Basket-
ball and baseball is what I am going to take this
year Jane don’t want to play games because she is
lazy She likes to lay around and read ^ much to
suit Soon FU be able to play basketball good
and then she will be sorry Most of us 1^ a very
good tune playing baseball Jane is taller than w
and s^ used to play baseball better than but
she plays so poor now that no one wants her on
their team I wish I were as pretty as Jane, though
She IS fourteen, like Mary and T aud she 1^ curly
black hair She wears such pretty clothes to She
has some perfume that smells very sweetly Mother
won’t leave me have any perfume She said, though
that I could buy some next year
When we graduate from high school iw girls
are gomg to the same college. We have wrote to

47

48

49
60
51
62

53

54
56
56
67

61

62.

63

64

65

66

67

68
69.

70

71

72

73
74.

75

76

TESTS

several colleges and have began to read all about
the different ones There are almost to many nice
ones to choose one very easy A few like women's
colleges better than co-educational colleges Most
of ns prefers the schools where both boys and giils
may attend because students have a better time their.
They have football games, ;to I saw a football game
once at Hopewell College The pnce of the tickets
were two dollars and seventy-five cents We surely
had a good tune There was about 30,000 people there
I had never saw so many people in one place Every-
one shouted as loud as they could when_oim team
come on the field Between halves the band played
the college song very soft while everyone sang
Then the teams came back and each player took their
position on the field The substitutes set down on
the bench The referee, like the other officials, were
dressed in white hnen kmckers His sleeves
were rolled up He must have froze because it was
very cold Everyone was happy when our team won
the game We sung songs and cheered as m followed
the band out of the stadium People throwed confetb
everywhere Mary, as well as the other girls, have
ask me to ^ about this game over and over again
No one in our crowd have seen a big game except me
There IS several reasons why we want to go to
Hopewell College Our teacher told Mary and I
that they have mterestmg courses their To tell
the truth, the curriculum don’t matter so much^ us.
Either dramatics or athletics aie gomg to be my

22 ^

APPENDIX I

specialty There is sevci al things to choose from
I thmk that sports k the best pait of any school
Everybody don’t agiee with me, however Mary prefers

TESTS

227

Capitalization and Punctuation Test

Capitalization No lines correct . , . Percentile

Punctuation No lines correct Percentile

Directions All the capitals and punctuation marks have been omitted fiom the sentences below,
except the capital at the beginmng of each sentence and the peiiod at the end
Look over these sentences carefully Whenevei you find a word which should be capitalized, wiite
the lettei which should be a capital on the Ime at the left of the sentence Sometmies several capitals
are needed in one sentence, you will then write seveial lettei s on the line at the left In some sentences
no words need to be capitalized When this is tiue leave the Ime blank If you are uncertain, it is genei-
ahy best to omit a capital

Also, insert m the places m each sentence where they are needed such punctuation maiks as you
think should be added You may change a period to an exclamation point 01 question maik when
desiiable, but do not out a sentence mto two or moie shoit sentences In some sentences, no punctua-
tion marks aie needed WThen m doubt it is best to omit a mark Make all maiks large enough to be
seen leadily

Study the examples below and then begm at once Woik rapidly You will have 25 minutes in which
to complete this section. The key for correcting these tests is on pages 252-257

Examples

S S V D Do you like s. s van dine’s mystery stories?

I Just imagine how frightened 1 was!

1. Are you gomg to strassburg germany.

2 She exclaimed what a beautiful lake

3. The hudson a river m new york is very beautiful.

4 Do you expect to visit china or ceylon

6 . Three weeks from now well be m kansas city

6 Tell me what doctor harris did said emily.

7. If thats all john said we may as well go

8. Friday the tenth of june was my buthday

9. Why do so many people blame the germans

10. It was the fourth of july a national hohday

11. She fives at 25 whittier street dolby kentucky

12. A1 smith the democratic candidate was defeated.

13. He attended tate college then he went to a law school.

14. . My subjects include the following history engbsh and latm.

16. Theyre ready but well have to wait awhile.

228
16 .
17

21

24

26

27

31

32

37

40

41

42.

43

44

APPENDIX I

In the first place the ku klux klan was not legal
He had started to newburg there was no retreat
She said that she intended to visit mount baker
I thmk french a bonng subject but like physics
This poem is called in the cool of the night
The ring is an heirloom it belonged to jenny lind
The captain our old friend met us at the dock
Esther jane and mary organized a girls club
The letter was sent from detroit on august 8 1933
Christmas memonal day and thanksgiving are holidays
Will the socialist party ultimately succeed
I use detoxal it is a good tooth paste

Sinclair lewis wrote these books dodsworth babbitt and arrowsmith
We are said the speaker at the dawn of a new eia
If you see any ameiican tourists let me know
He burned into the bank and asked for the president
John fimshed his Spanish then he worked on biology.

By a waterfall is a simple little piece to play
He read tennysons famous poem in memoriam

A careful description of captam evans was given for he was an important
witness in the trial

She recommends gold dust for cleaning since it is cheaper and just as good

We didn’t have time to visit the alps still we saw almost every other part of
europe

His wife is a presbjdenan he is a baptist

He claims that the government is as corrupt as m the days of rome that
there is no place for an honest man in politics and that there is little hope
for reform

The national radway association should recognize that this type of engine
will not pay it is out of date

The lincoln school has been overcrowded for some time.

Its too bad that gerry cant go with us
Oranges lemons and grapefrmt are citrous fruits
She said that he would be glad to see you.

45

46

47

48

49
60
51
62.

53

54
65
56
67

61

63

64

70

72

73

TESTS 210

On Sunday we went fishing in beaver creek

The various codes were submitted to general Johnson

He said that he saw the prince of wales but no one believed him

Please come she wrote colonel brown wiU be here.

Joe IS not going nor is sally

In other words the general electnc company refused my offer

Its hair is fine and soft its still just a puppy

Im m a hurry is the name of an amusmg shoit story

You will like these movies cimarron and masquerade

The unemployed league will meet tomorrow at seven oclock

We saw the capitol at Washington and then the diiver took us home

You should talk to professoi brown she advised

She said she played no card games during lent

One of us must go to lisbon which will it be

John makes high grades in mathematics he wants to enter harvard college
next year

Youll find it easier to go by way of athens youll save twenty miles
Im too tired to go out tonight besides its too cold
That youngster said coach jones will be a stai next year.

Its raining haid but jim wont stay at home
June July and august are vacation months

He wants someone who is quick who is ambitious and who has had experi-
ence

If its really necessary you may have the Chevrolet

He told me to meet him at the seneca hotel but he didnt appear

Being capable and socially pronunent she was elected to the martha Wash-
ington club

All right he said well put the money m the chase bank

111 send you a subscription to the hterary digest if you want it

You may take this note to mr adams then drop these letters in the mailbox.

Joseph conrad is the author of lord jim he also wrote victory

To be frank she doesnt like jamce very well

2^0

74

76

76

77

79

80

APPENDIX I

They went to Washington to Oregon and on to California

She resigned from the missionary society thus losmg many friends

We drove to st louis and then took a quaint old steamer down the mississippi
river

111 take you in the car otheiwise youll be late
Mary you may desciibe general pershmgs plan

One goes to church on easter to ease ones conscience to wear ones new spring
clothes or to see what mrs jones is wearing
The play was almost over when john left

TESTS

23X

Test on Sentence Structure

No right times 2 Percentile

Directions Each of the following paragiaphs contains three statements One of these violates some
lule of good sentence stiucture, it is poorly expressed or not cleai Write the number of the wrong
statement m each paragraph, m the parentheses at the left Do not change or mark on any sentence
Look ovei the example Then begin at once Woik lapidly You will have 15 mmutes m which to
complete this section. The key for this test is on page 257.

Example

1. ( 1 ) (1) The man with the pipe sitting on tho bank (2) The man with the pipe is sittmg on
the bank (3) The man sittmg on the bank has a pipe

1 ( ) (1) Where is he'i’ (2) Wliere is he at? (3) Where has he gone’

2 ( ) (1) The giocei offeied me a job, but I lefused it (2) The giocei said tliat I could work for

him Satuidays, but I refused it (3) The grocei offeied me work on Saturdays, but I re-
fused his offer

3. ( ) (1) I saw your uncle. The one from Dayton (2) I saw youi uncle who lives m Dajdon

(3) I saw your uncle, tire one from Dayton

4 ( ) (1) While readmg a book, I was stai tied by the telephone rmgmg (2) Whilereadmgabook,

the telephone rang (3) 'i^ile I was reading a book, the telephone rang
6 ( ) (1) Jane was nervous when Nancy called to her (2) When Nancy called to Jane, she was

nervous (3) Nancy was nervous when she called to Jane

6. ( ) (1) His brother is very strong (2) He has a brothei who is very strong. (3) He has a

brother is very strong

7. ( ) (1) Hiding down the street in a car they passed John who was afoot (2) Walking down

the street we met John in a cai (3) Walkmg down the street John passed us in his car

8. ( ) (1) He had a revolver m his desk, which he had carried m the army (2) In Ins desk he had

a revolver which he had carried m the army (3) In the army he had carried the revolver
which he now had in his desk

0 ( ) (1) I got this book fiom Tom, who got it from Mary (2) Since this book has left the store

it has been first Tom’s and then Mary’s (3) This is the book which I got from Tom, who
seemed it from Mary, who purchased it at the store

10 ( ) (1) John laced down the field, which was 110 yards long (2) John ran tire full length of

the field, which made him a hero (3) John, who is our best player, raced down the field

11 ( ) (1) Helen prefers Mary to Jane (2) Helen likes Mary better than Jane does (3) tielen

likes Mary better than Jane

12 ( ) (1) Cheermg wildly as the team came on the field, all ready for the game (2) The crowd

cheered wildly as the team came on the field. (3) Cheering wildly, we rushed the bleachers

13 ( ) (1) Chinning is when you pull yourself up to a rod (2) Chinning is puUmg youi self up to a

rod (3) Pulling yourself up to a rod is called churning

14 ( ) (1) I like football better than basketball (2) A game of tennis gives moie exercise than a

ride in an automobile (3) Playing tennis is better exercise than to ride in an automobile

15 ( ) (1) It IS a novel which has great merit and which should be read by all (2) A Tale of Two

Cities IS a novel of great merit and which should be read by all (3) A Tale of Two Cities
is a fine novel which should be read by all

16 ( ) (1) We went to the city and saw a show We had a good tune (2) After going to the city

and seeing a show, we came homo (3) We went to the city and we saw a show, and we came
home, and we had a good time

17 ( ) (1) We took an an plane because it was the qmckest means of travel (2) Wanting to get

there quickly, an aiiplane was taken (3) To get there qmckly we took an airplane
IS ( ) (1) The boys fumbled in the third quarter This fumble caused us to lose the game (2)

The boys fumbled m the third quartei, which caused us to lose the game. (3) The game was
lost when the boys fumbled in the third quarter.

APPENDIX f

132

19 ( ) (1) He ran home He told his mother She came out We were severely scolded. (2) He ran

home and told his mother She came out and scolded us severely (3) John haiong gone
home and told his mother, we were severely scolded

20 ( ) (1) John spoke to the man, and he was very cross (2) John spoke crossly to the man

(3) John spoke to the man, who was very cross

21 ( ) (1) A lesson which was too long and which should not have been assigned (2) The lesson,

which was too long, should not have been assigned (3) The lesson was too long and should
not have been assigned

22 ( ) (1) He arose late and ate no bieakfast (2) Hav-ag arisen late, no breakfast was served

(3) He ate no breakfast because he had arisen late

23 ( ) (1) The summer being veiy dry, and all the cieeks diied up (2) Because the summer was

very dry all the creeks dried up (3) The summer was very dry All the creeks dried up

24 ( ) (1) We fimshed the problem at noon, then we called the teacher (2) We fimshed the

pioblem at noon and called the teacher (3) We fimshed the problem at noon and calling
for the teacher

26 ( } (1) Ann is a cute child Who IS always getting into trouble (2) Ann is a cute child, but she

IS always getting mto trouble (3) Ann is a cute child who is always getting into trouble
26 ( ) (1) After the car stopped we stepped out (2) We stepped out The car having stopped

(3) The car stopped We stepped out

27. ( ) (1) She ]omed the party, reserved and quiet (2) The paity which she joined was a reserved

and quiet affaii (3) She joined the party, but was reserved and quiet

28 ( ) fl) Although he read everjrthing he could, he acted as if he were compelled to do it (2) He

read everything as if he were compelled to do so (3) Eeadmg everything he could, as if
he were compelled to do so

29 ( ) (1) John was talking about that man (2) That is the man whom John was discussing

(3) That IS the man, he was just discussing him

30 ( ) (1) Tom was soiry because he was too Late (2) Tom was too late, and he was sorry

(3) Tom was Sony, being too late

31 ( 1 (1) He is a student who is popular, but who is always m trouble (2) That student is

popular, but always troublesome (3) He is a popular student, but who is always in trouble
82 ( ) (1) Everyone is welcome, and you do not have to contribute (2) Everyone is welcome,

and no one has to contnbute (3) You are welcome, you do not have to contribute
33 ( ) (1) She thought of only one peison Her brother, who was ill (2) She thought of only one

person, her brother (3) Her brother, the one who was ill, is coming
84 ( ) (1) I like a good novel— one which portrays strong characters and wboh thrills the reader

(21 I like a good novel— one which portrays strong characters and in reading the book
you aie thiiUed (3) I hke novels which are thrilhng and which poitray strong charaoteis

35 ( ) (1) James, sitting on the platform, was lookmg at the audience (2) There was James,

looking at the audience sitting on the platfoim. (3) Theie was James, sitting on the plat-
form and looking at the audience

36 ( ) (1) If she IS better tomoirow we will go (2) We do not expect to go Unless she is better

tomorrow (3) We do not expect to go unless she is better tomorrow

37 ( ) (1) The ball which he had just purchased was thrown mto the gutter (2) He threw the

ball which he had just purchased mto the gutter (3) He threw the ball into the gutter
which he just pui chased

38 ( ) f 11 Mother was ill That was why I was absent (2) The reason I was absent was because

Mother v as ill (3) I was absent because Mother was ill
89 ( ) (1) We will keep going regardless of anythmg (2) Whether we win or lose, we will go on

(3) Whether we win or lose, whether we fail or succeed
40 ( ) (1) A long lesson was assigned before Christmas, which made us angry (2) A long lesson

assigned before Christmas made us angry (3) A long lesson was assigned befoi e Christmas
This assignment made us angry.

TESTS

233

TEST OF WORDS COMMONLY SPELLED INCORRECTLY

No right out of 228 . Date

This IS a self-admimstermg test of spelling and has no tune limit You are to write out the spelling
of each of the words listed below

The sound of each word is indicated at the left by a crude phonetic method (exactly correct pi onun-
ciations are not always indicated and a few times the correct spelhng is used to indicate how the word
sounds) , the middle column gives a defimtion of each word, and you aie to write the correct spelling
of each woid, thus sounded and defined, in the space at the right-hand side

A good way "to take” this test is to decide what the word is m terms of the first two columns
and then, disregarding the first two columns, sound the word as you spell it A dash over a letter,
e g , “a,” mdicates that it has a "long” sound, 1 e , sounded as m saying the alphabet.

The key for correcting this test is on pages 258-260

How word sounds Definition

1 ab sense

2 ak

3 all together

4 a feet

6 ak si dent ily
6 aksept
7. a cross

8 add vise

9 a comma date

10 all red i

11 a n ]ell

12 amung

13 all ways

14 all most

15 ang gull

16 a per ate us

17 auks ill er i

18 ath let ick

19 are gu ment

to be away
to pam

without exception
to influence
without mtention
to approve
on the other side 0
to warn
to adapt to
previously
celestial being
in the midst of
at all tunes
nearly
sharp comer
machine
helping
good at sports
dispute

234

APPENDIX I

How word sounds

20 a tack t

21 a pier unce

22 ath. leet

23 be leave

24 balense

25 be gm mg

26 biz nes

27 ben 1 fit

28 by sickle

29 come er sliell

30 oh owes
31. care actor

32 oham ja bull

33 kal end er

34. care actor i stick
35 kol ledge
36. oh ooze
37 chgf

Dejimtum

assaulted

external show

football player

to accept as true

equihbrium

at the start

commercial entei prise

for the sake of

vehicle with two wheels

related to mdustry

to have selected m the past

reputation, sum of one’s charac-
teiistics

varymg

table of days and months
typical, distmctivo
umversity, school
to select
leader

39 cap ten

40 come mg

41 kritiBize

42 korse

43. kon vSn yent

44 komp li ment air i

45 komp li ment

46 come pair i tiv lee

47 come it e
48. kc<n shence

officer in army
approachmg
to find fault
school subject
near at hand

given to flattering remarks
flattering remark
relatively
group of people

feeling of obligation to do right

TESTS

How word sounds Dejimhon Spelling

49

kon she en chus

faithful, exact

60

kon troll

govern, direct

51. kon shus

aware of

52

kon spick you us

prominent, easily seen

63

de seeve

mislead

54

de side

to conclude

55

deaf a nit

limited, fixed

56

duz

form of veib “to do”

57

dis a point

to not fulfill expectation

58

dis a pier

to go from sight

69

de vel up

to form, expand

60

de vel up ment

formation, expansion

61

de scribe

to relate, depict

62

des send

to go down

63

die ning

eatmg

64

dis sip lin

to pumsh

65

dock ter

medical person

66

de pen dunt

not self-sustaimng

67

doe nt

contracted form of “do not”

68

eks IS tense

to be

69

eks pier S ense

to live thiough an event

70

eks er size

exertion, to run, play games

71.

eks ek u tiv

administrator

72

eks sept

to leave out

73

e miff

adequate

74

e quip t

furmshed

76

em a grunt

person from a country

76

em bear us ment

to feel uncomfortable

77

em bear us

to make uncomfortable

235

236

How word sounds

78. e fekt

79. el 1 ] a bull

80. fas sm ate

81. feb you wary

82. fine ul e

83 four^mei li

84

85 full fill

86 . frend

87. great full

88 grevus

89 gramer
90. guv urn er

91 ges

92 hugbmerus

93. hope mg

94. hear
96 hear
96 hair us

97. ear resist a bull

98. its

99 i me grunt
100 . 1 med i et h

101 1 maj in

102 m deep end ent

103 m ti rest mg

104 judgement
105. jew dish al

APPENDIX I
Definiiion
result of a cause
qualified to be chosen
to hold attention
second month of the year
at last
previously
spell “40”

to satisfy, to carry out
person that likes you
to have giatitude
heavy, distiessmg
language form
head of a state
to judge at random
funny

desne for something

at this place

to sense sounds

to worry by repeated attacks

overpowermg

contracted form of “it is”

peison coming into a country

nght away

to form a mental image
free from external control
excitmg
behef, opimon
pertaining to a court

How word sounds

106 new

107 lab la tor i

108 lad

109 led

110 lee zure

111 he berry

112 lew z
113. lew se

114 litter a ture

115 he sense

116 management
117. ment

118 miss spell
119. miss oheev us
120 more gage
121. mi nut

122 nessysary

123 notice a bull

124

125

126 knee se

127 OK shun

128 0 K shun a lee

129 aw per toon i ti
130. 6 mish im

131 offen

132 6 clock

133 6 nut ed

TESTS

Definiiion Spelling

past tense of verb meaning to have
information about
place for experiments

past tense of verb meaning "to
place upon”

past tense of verb meanmg "to
show the way”
time outside of work

place for books

not to wm

to be free from

books, writing

official permit

those in charge

past tense of "to mean”

to spell incorrectly

to cause annoyance

a debt on property

l/60th of an hour

something that must be

conspicuous

spell "19”

spell "20”

daughter of one's sister or brothei

the tune for

now and then

chance

left out

happen frequently
tune of day
left out

237

238

How word sounds

134 6 cur d

135 pair a lei

136 prob bub lee

137 pro seed

138 pro fes er

139. praw fess 1

140. puir man ent

141 purr miss a bull

142 percyvear

143. pick mck ing

144. pre seed

145 poseesbun

146 plan mg

147 pland

148. peace

149. preh fui unoe

150 pre fur d

151 privi ledge
152. preh purr 5 shun

153 prince a pull

154 prince a pull

155 preh ]ew dis

156 par la ment

157 partner

158 purr form

159 purr haps

160 kwan ti tea

APPENDIX I

Definiiion

happened

extendmg m same direction
likely

to begm or go forward
college teacher
piediction (noun)
contmue without change
allowable

to keep trying at somethmg
lunch outdoors
to go ahead of
to have with one
schemmg, devismg
schemed, devised
a part of
greater likmg for
had gieater liking for
a right or immunity
state of readmess
head of a school
fundamental truth
opmion against
goveinmg body
associate

to do, accomplish
possibly
amount, sum

161 kwi et

without noise

TESTS

How word sounds

162 kwit

163 re ah

164 re seat

165 ri them

166 ryem

167 re spon sa bull

168 re speck full Ice

169 rep i ti shun

170 le hj us

171 re leave

172 wreck 5 mend Sshun
173. wreck 6 mend

174 wreck eg niz

175 resev

176 sal ar i

177 se puir ate

178 seas

179 sek ri tary
180. sked yule

181 seen

182 sm sear lee

183 shme mg

184 sun 1 ler

185 shep urd

186 s peach

187 sof a more

188 skillfull

189 stay shun ery

DefinUvm
entirely, positively
actually

acknowledgment of payment

movement marked by regular re-
currence
poetry

trustworthy
regardful for
repeating
godly, pious
to free from burden
good suggestion
to suggest as good
identify, to know
to accept
wage

to divide, take away
to take, grab
stenographer
time table, catalogue
view, part of a play
genumely, honestly
reflecting light
being alike
a tender of sheep
talk, oration
2nd year m college
expert

writmg material

339

APPENDIX I

Hm word sounds
100. stay shun eiy
191. shyour

192 sloping

193 Studs mg

194 suckses

196. sue puir seed

196 sue purr in ten dent

197. stop t
198 sn- prize

199. sill 1 bull

200. tare if

201. th air

202. th air
203 th air
204. th air four

206. threw
206 to

207. two gether

208. trajedi
209

210 .

211 try z

212. true lee

213. un nessy saiy

214. un till
216. use mg
216 witch

Definition
stay in one place
with ceitamty
ceasmg of movement
to lead lessons
to attain a goal
to be in place of
head of school system
to have ceased movmg
unexpected
pait of a woid
tax on impoils
opposite of heie
belonging to them
contraction of “they aie”
for that reason
to be done with
also

m company with
fatal or momnful event
spell “2”
spell "12th”
he attempts
genumely, honestly
useless, needless
to the time that
employmg

217 hole

interrogative or relative pronoun
all of

Hm word sounds

TESTS

Definition

241

218 wi men

219 wetli er

220 Wens day
221. wear

222 wrytmg
223. use you lee

224 vilun

225 vil edge

226 woent

227 wood

228 rit

persons of female sex
state of the atmosphere
4th day of week
at or m what place
what one has composed
commonly, ordmanly
scoundrel
small town

contraction of “will not”
form of veib “will”
to compose a letter

APPENDIX 11

KEYS

Libeakt Inpoemation
(pages 83-86)

1 3

2 4
3. 1

4 2

5 5

6 T
7. T

8 F

9 F
10 T

11. F

12 T

13 F

14 T

Libeakt Inpobm (Co?ii )
IS. A
16 C

17. A

18 E

19 H

20 2

21 F

22 1935
23. T

24 7

25 T

26 F

Libeakt Inform (Cont )

27. I

28 E

29 F

30 G

31 C

32 H

33 D

34 h

35 f
36. d

37 a

38 0

39 k

40 j

41 1

42. T

43 T

44 T
45. T

143

Libraby Inform { Gont .)

Gen Vocab (Coni.)

47. F

Score Rights (80)

1. (2)

16 (3)

48 T

2. (3)

16 (2)

3 (3)

17 (3)

4. (6)

18. (5)

49 F

6. (1)

50. F

19. (4)

51 T

6 (2)

20 (3)

52 T

7 (4)

21. (6)

53 3

64. 1

8 (1)

22. (5)

65 T

9. (6)

23 (2)

66 T

10 (3)

24 (3)

67. 3

11 (3)

25. (1)

68. T

12. (1)

26. (6)

69 T

60. F

13 (4)

27. (4)

61 4

14 (1)

28. (3)

62 1

29. (3)

63. 2

30. (4)

^44

VocAB. {Cmt)

Gen. Vocab {Cant)

Gen. 'Vocab. (Cont.)

31. (1)

51. (1)

71. (4)

32. (4)

62 (3)

72 (1)

S3 (1)

63. (1)

73 (3)

84 (5)

54 (2)

74. (5)

35 (5)

55. (4)

75 (2)

36 (2)

56 (5)

37 (1)

57 (2)

38 (4)

58. (4)

76 (6)

39 (2)

59 (3)

77. (3)

40 (6)

60 (4)

78 (4)

41. (3)

61 (3)

79 (1)

42 (4)

62 (5)

80. (3)

43 (6)

63 (1)

44 (6)

64 (3)

45 (1)

65. (2)

46. (4)

66. (2)

47. (5)

67. (5)

48. (3)

68. (4)

49. (2)

69. (5)

50 (3)

70 (5)

Dictionabt Usagh

Mathematics

Mathematics (fimi.)

(page 121)

1. (2)

(pages 147-148)

1 2,166

27.

1/6

2. (4)

2. 1,509

28

1/2

3 F

3 18,585

29.

20

4 johnnycake

4 67,572

30

.60

5 (1)

5 1,071,840

31

49

6 T

6 1,624,773

32

64

7. ni

7 199 5

33.

81

8 291 00

34

121

8. F

9 33/40

35

144

9 (9)

10 1 11/20

36

14

10. (4)

11 1/21

37.

40

11 (2)

12 1/12

38

10

12. (2)

13 3/7

39

11

13. (3)

14 3/10

40

40

14 (2)

15 7/12

41

111

16. (3)

16 4/6

42.

007

16. (4)

17 27 2086

43

.30

17. (2)

18. 89 1424

44

5

19 1 1694

45

8

18 (1)

20 2942

46

6

19. jollified

21 766314

47

5

20. (3)

22 074592

48

132

21 T

23 .003

49

96

22 T

24 5.

50.

24

23. (2)

24. (3)

26, 62 5%

26 70 69%

146

Test oe Social Usage
(pages 171-172)

1. T

2 F

3 T

4 T
5. T

6 T

7 P

8 T

9 T
10. T

11 T

12 P

13 P

14 T
16 T

16 T

17 T

15 T

19 T

20 T
21. P

SociAi Usage {Coni )

22 P

23 P

24 T

25 T

26 T

27 T

28 P

29 T

30 T

31 F

32 F

33 F

34 T

35 T

36 T

37 T

38 F

39 T

40 T

Abt Reading
(pages 196-198)
1 ( 1 )

2 (P)

3 (1)

4 (3)

6 (3)

6 (4)

7 (2)

8 (T)

9 (T)

10 (F)

11. (P)

12 ( 2 )

13 (2)

14 (1)

15 (T)

16 (P)

17. (1)

18 (4)

19. (3)

047

Gbologt Beabinq
( pages 210-212)

1 (2)

Art iConl)

20 (F)

21 ( 2 )

22 (S)

23 (7)

24 (2)

25 (2)

26 (2)

27 (2)

28 (F)

29 (2)

30 (6)

31 (7)

32, (T)

33 (1)

34 (2,3,1)
36 (2)

36 (2)

Aut {Com)

40 (2)

41 (1)

42 (1)

2 (T)

3 (3)

4 (F)

6 (F)

6 (3)

7 (3)

8 (3, 1, 2)

9 (T)

10 ( 2 )

11 ( 2 )

12 . ( 1 )

13 (4)

14 (3)

15 (1)

16 (3)

17. (4)

148

37 (1)

38 (F)

39 (F)

Gbol (Cont)

Gbol (Cont )

TABiiBS {Cont)

18. (3)

35. (2)

8. 42 9%

19 (3)

36 (3)

9 217%

20 (F)

37 (F)

10 101%

21. (1)

38. (F)

11 F

39 (F)

12a. T
b F

22. (1)

0 F

d. F

e. F

14 F

24 (2)

25. (1)

15. T

26. (4)

^ ( 8 JOLiffiS J

27. (3)

28 (1)

16. 812 96

29 (3)

17 174

18. 5679

30 (1)

A Reading Tables

19. T

31 (1)

(pages 213-215)

1 81%

20 3

2 87%

3. 90%

21. P

32 (3)

4 F

5 F

22 1

33 (T)

6 14

23 1

34 (T;

7, 17

24 T

25 T

26. F

Chabts

(pages 216-218)

1 145

2 13

3 10 & 11

4 4

5 T

6 13, 10th%Tle

7 Professional

8 Office or sales

9 750

10 1

11 225

12 P

13 T

14 80%

15 T

16 F

17 35 5%

18 3rd

19. F

20. 3rd

21 7th

22 F

C. Skills in Map REAMNa
(pages 220-221)

1. GK

2 7

3 Geraldton

4 Alice Sprmgs

5 BH

6. J

7 East

8 North

9 Darwin
10 East

11. Rockhampton

12 WaUabie

13 AM

14 IN

15 DO

16 Rockhampton

17 North

18 Geelong

19 Geraldton

20 Torrid zone

21 about 2300 mi.
22. about 1750 mi

24 F

D. Mathematical Foemulab
(page 222)

1. (b)

2 (a)

3 (b)

4 (b)

5 (d)

6 (a)

7. (b)

8 (o)

9 (d)

10. (c)

11 . ( 0 )

150

English Stovey Test
Grammar (pages 223-226)
Buie Answer

1 (9) us

2 (7) greets

3 (13) sit

4 (11) well

5 (10) asked

6 (10) climbed

7 (11) easily

8 0

9 (8) his

10 (6) doesn’t or does not

11 (10) gone

12 (1) IS

13 (9) who

14 (9) whom

15 (7) was

16. (1) have (had)

Grammar {Coni)

17 (5) IS
18, (8) are

19 (13) teach

20 (11) surely

21 (10) given

22 (6) doesn’t or does not
23, (5) IS

24 (12) bad

25 (2) IS

26 (13) let

27 (11) carefully

28 (1) was

29 (12) sad

30 0

31 (1) are

32 (6) doesn’t or does not

33 (13) he

34 (11) weU

35 (7) have

36 (9) I
37. (9) I

38 (11) poorly

39 (8) his (her)

40. (9) me

41. (13) too

42. (12) sweet

43. (13) let

44. (13) might

45. (9) we

46. (10) written

X5I

Grammar ( Cont )

47. (10) begun

48 (13) too

49 (11) easily

5( 0

51. (7) prefer

52 (13) there

53 (13) too

54 0

55 (2) was
66. (4) were
57 (10) seen
58. (8) he
69 (10) came

60 (11) softly

61 (8) bs

62 (13) sat

63 (3) was

64 0

66 (10) frozen
66 0

67 (10) sang

68 (10) tbew

69 (3) has

70 (10) asked

71 (7) has

72 (4) are
73. (9) me

74 (13) there

75 (6) doesn't or does not

76 (1) is

Grammar (Cont.)

77 (4) are
78, (5) are

79- (7) doesn’t or does not
80 (9) me

Capitalization

(pages 227-230)

Rule

Answer

1. (3)

SG

2 (1)

W

3. (3)

HNY

4 (3)

CC

5 (3)

KC

6. (2)

DHE

7 (2)

J

8. (5)

J

9. (3)

G

10 (5)

FJ

11. (3)

wsdk:

12. (2, 4) S D

13 (3)

TO

14 (3)

EL

15.

—

Capitalization (Cont )

Capitalization (Coni.)

Capitalization (Cont )

16 (4)

KKK

45 (3, 5) S B C

74. (3)

woe

17. (3)

N

46 (2)

GJ

75 (4)

MS

18 (3)

MB

47 (2)

PW

76 (3)

SLMR

19 (3)

F

48 (2)

CB

20 (6)

ICN

49 (2)

S

77

—

21 (2)

JL

50 (4)

GEC

78 (2)

GP

22

—

51

79 (2, 5) E M J

23 (2)

JM

52. (6)

H

80 (2)

J

24 (3, 5) D A

53 (6)

CM

26 (5)

MDT

54 (4)

UL

26 (4)

SP

55 (3)

CW

27 (6)

D

56. (2)

PB

28 (2, 6) LDBA

57 (5)

L

29

—

58 (3)

L

30 (3)

A

59 (4)

HC

31

—

60. (3)

A

32. (3)

S

61

—

33 (6)

w

62. (2)

GJ

34 (2,6) TIM

63. (2)

J

35 (2)

CE

64 (5)

JA

36 (6)

GD

65

37 (3)

AE

66 (6)

C

38. (4)

PB

67 (4)

SH

39 (3)

R

68 (4)

MWC

40 (4)

NRA

69 (4)

CB

41. (4)

LS

70 (6)

LD

42 (2)

G

71. (2)

MA

43

—

72, (2,6) OLJV

44

—

73. (2)

J

2-53

Punctuation
(pages 227-230)

Note Comma underlmed thus_j_is optional, the sentence is correct either with or without the mark.

The total score in punctuation is the total number of hues in which coriect punctuation maiks and
no others have been mserted (except as certam alternatives are allowed as indicated by the marks m
paientheses) If the student has only three of four punctuation marks needed on a Ime or if he has
all the punctuation and adds a mark, no credit is given. The total possible score is thus 80 pomts.

Buie

Answer

1

(1,8)

strassburg, germany?

2

(12, 1, 7)

exclaimed, “what lake!”

3

(3)

The hudson, a york, is

4

(1)

ceylon?

6

(14)

we’ll

6

(12, 7)

“TeE did,”

7

(14, 12, 7)

"If that’s all,” John said, “we go ” (that’s said,)

8

(3)

Fnday, the june.

9

(1)

germans?

10

(3)

July, a

11

(8)

street, dolby, kentucky

12

(3)

A1 smith, the candidate,

13

(10)

college, then

14.

(11, 6)

following histoiy, englisl^and latin

15

(14, 6)

They’re ready, but we’ll

ZS4

Punctuation {CcmL)

16 (4) place, the

17 (9) newburg, there (started, to)

18 (7) (No punctuation needed)

19 (6) (No punctuation needed)

20 (13) called “in night "

21. (9) heirloom, it

22 (3) captain, oui friend, met

23 (15, 5) Esther, jane,^ and girls’

24. (8) 8, 1933

25 (5) Christmas, memorial dajij^ and

26 (1) succeed?

27 (9) detoxal, it

28 (13, 11, 5) books dodsworth, babbitt^ and arrowmith (books, “dodsworth,” “babbitt,” and

“airowsmith ”)

29 (12, 7) “We are,” said the Speaker, “at eia.”

30 (4) tourists, let

31 (6) (No punctuation needed)

32 (10) spamsh, then

33 (13) “By a waterfall” is

34 (15, 3, 13) tennyson’s poem, “m memonam.”

35 (6) given, for

36 (4) cleamng, since

37 (14, 10) didn’t alps, still

38 (15, 9) piesbytenan, he

39 (5) rome, that politics, and

40 (9) pay, it

41 (No punctuation needed)

42 (14) It’s can’t

43 (5) Oranges, lemony and

44 (7) (No punctuation needed)

^5S

45,

46,

47, (7, 6)

48 (12,7)

49. (6)

60 (4)

51 (15, 14, 9)
62 (14,13)

53 (13, 11)

54 (14)

55 (6)

66 (12,7)

67

58 (1,9)

50 (9)

60 (14,9)

61 (14, 10)

62 (12, 7)

63 (14,6)

64 (5)

65 (5)

66 (14,4)

67 (14, 6)

68 (4)

69 (7,12,14)

70 (14,13,4)

71 (2,10)

72 (13, 9)

73 (14,4)

PONCTUATION (CtMrf,)

(No punctuation needed)

(No punctuation needed)
wales, but

“Please come,” sbe wrote, “colonel heie ”

going, nor

words, the

soft, it’s

“I’m hurry”

movies ammaron and masquerade (movies, “oimmaron” and “masquerade,”)

tomorrowj^at o’clock

washmgton, and

“You brown,” ^e

(No punctuation needed)

hsbon, which be?

mathematics, he

You’ll athens, you’ll

I’m tomght, besides it’s

“That youngstei,” said coach jones, “will year.” (said, “coach year.”)

It’s hard, but jim won’t
June, ]uly;,_and
quick, who ambitious, and
If it’s necessary, you
didn’t

prominent, she

“All right,” he said, “we’ll bank ”

I’ll literary digestj^ii (“hterary diges^”)

mi adams, then

Iwd jim, he victory (“ ”)

frank, she doesn’t

74. (5)

75 (4)

76 (6,2)

77 (14,10)

78 (15,3)

79 (15,5,2)

Punctuation
W ashington, to oregon_j_and

society, thus
st

I’ll car, otherwise you’ll

Mary, you pershing’s

one’s conscience, to one’s clothes, or mrs

80 (No punctuation needed)

Sentence Structure Sentence Structure (Coni) Sentence Structure (Cont)

(pages 231-232)

Rule Answer

1 ( 2 )

2

27 ( 4 )

1

2 ( 5 )

2

16 ( 3 )

3

28 ( 1 )

3

3 ( 3 )

1

17 ( 4 )

2

29 ( 5 )

3

4 ( 4 )

2

18 ( 5 )

2

30 ( 4 )

3

5 ( 5 )

2

31 ( 6 )

3

6 . ( 1 )

3

32 ( 6 )

1

r ( 4 )

3

19 ( 3 )

1

33 ( 1 )

1

8 ( 4 )

1

20 . ( 6 )

1

34 ( 6 )

2

9 . ( 3 )

3

21 ( 1 )

1

36 . ( 4 )

2

10 ( 5 )

2

22 . ( 4 )

2

36 . ( 1 )

2

11 ( 6 )

3

23 ( 6 )

1

37 . ( 5 )

3

12 ( 1 )

1

24 ( 6 )

3

13 ( 2 )

1

38 ( 2 )

2

14 ( 6 )

3

25 ( 1 )

1

39 ( 1 )

3

15 ( 6 )

2

26 ( 1 )

2

40 ( 6 )

1

2-57

Spblwng Test
(pages 233-241)

1 absence

2 ache

3 altogether
4. affect

6, accidentally
6 accept

7. across

8 advise

9 accommodate
10. alieady

11 angel

12, among

13. always

14 almost

15 angle

16 apparatus
17. auxihary

18 athletic

19 argument

Spelukg {Cant.)

20 attacked
21, appearance

22 athlete

23 beheve

24 balance

25 beguinmg

26 business

27 benefit

28 bicycle

29 commercial

30 chose

31 character

32 changeable

33 calendar

34 charactenstio

35 college

36 choose

37 chief

38 certain

39 captam

40 coming

(or criticise)

41 criticize

42 course

43 convement

44 complimentary
45. comphment

46 comparatively

47 committee

48 conscience

Spelling {Cont)

49. conscientious

50 control

51 conscious

53, deceive
64 decide

56 does
67 disappoint

58 disappear

(or develops)

59 develop

(or developement)
60. development

63 dinin g

64 disoiplme

65 doctor

66 dependent

67 don’t

68 existence

69 expel lence

70 exercise

71 executive

72 except

73 enough

74 equipped
75. eimgrant

76 embarrassment
77. embarrass

2.58

Spelling (Cont)

SpELiJNa (Cont)

Spelling (Cont)

78. effect

106 knew

134 occurred

79. eligible

107 laboratory

135. parallel

80 fascinate

108 laid

136 probably

81. February

109 led

137 proceed

82 finally

110 leisure

138 professor

83 formerly

111 hbraiy

139 prophecy

84. forty

112. lose

140 permanent

(or ful&ll)

86 fulfil

113 loose

141. permissible

86 friend

114 hterature

142. persevere

(orhcenee)

87 giateful

115. hcense

143 picmcking

88 grievous

116 management

144. precede

89 grammar

117 meant

146 possession

90 governor

118 misspell

146 planning

91. guess

119 mischievous

147 planned

(or humourous)

92 humorous

120 mortgage

148 piece

93 hopmg

121 mmute

149 preference

94 here

122 necessary

160 preferred

95 hear

123 noticeable

161. privilege

96 harass

124. mneteen

152 preparation

97 irresistible

125 twenty

153. prmoipal

98 it’s

126 mece

154 pnnciple

99 immigrant

127 occasion

165 prejudice

100 immediately

128 occasionally

166 parliament

101 imagine

129. opportumty

157 partner

102 independent

130. omission

168 perform

103. interesting

131 often

169 perhaps

(or judgement)

132. o’clock

104. judgment

160 quantity

106. judicial

133. omitted

161 quiet

159

Spelling (Cont)

Spelling (Conf)

Spelling (Cont)

162 quite

190 stationary

218 women

163 really

191 sure

219 weather

164 receipt

192 stopping

220 Wednesday

165 rhythm

193 studymg

221 wheie

166. rhyme

194 success

222. writing

167 responsible

195 supersede

223 usually

168 respectfully

196 superintendent

224. vilLam

169 lepetition

197 stopped

226. village

170 religious

198 surpiise

226 won’t

227 would

171 reheve

199 syllable

228. write

172 recommendation

200 taiifif

173 recommend

201 there

174 recognize

202. their

175 receive

203 they’re

176 salary

204. therefore

177 separate

205 through

178. seize

206 too

179 secretary

207 together

180 schedule

208 tragedy

181 scene

209 two

182 sincerely

210 twelfth

183 shming

211 tries

184 similar

212 truly

185 shepherd

213 uimecessary

186 speech

214 until

187 sophomore

215 using

(or skilful)

188 skillful

216 which

189 stationery

217 whole

SUMMARY SHEET

Directions' When each of the following activities is completed, fill m the date below and, if it has a
score, its score This listing quickly mdieates what has been completed and which tests need cheolang,
after the course this will serve as a record of your test results

Page Title

4 Self-Insight Exercise

9 Student Data Sheet

11 Problem Check List

17 Practice with Cues

32 Practice with Survey Q3R

46 Fmal Examination Schedule

63 Exarmnation Practice

58 Present Use of Time

69 Study Habits Questionnaiie

61 Plan of Time Use

65 Study Conditions Questionnaire

69 Check List of Work Behavior

70 Evaluation of Study Conditions

76 Motivation Check

79 Motivation Write-up

83 Test of Library Information

87 Library Laboratory Exercise

88 Term Paper Library Project

90 Evaluation of Past Term Papers

94 Evaluation of Classroom Behavior

101 Practice with Classioora Skills

107 Alt Reading Rate

107 Ai't Compiehension Accuracy

107 Geology Reading Rato

107 Geology Compiehension Accuracy

107 Summary Evaluation of Reading

110 Rate Evaluation

111 Outside Reading Reeoid

112 Rate Chart

114 Summaiy Evaluation of Comprehension

117 General Vocabulary

121 Dictionary

124 Vocabulary Listing

126 Reading Tables

126 Reading Chaits

126 Reading Maps

Date Result Checked

not scoied
not scoied
not scored
not scored
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not scored
not scoied
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score

not scored

scoie

not scored
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score
scoie ,
grade
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score

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%ile

%ile

%ile

%ile

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scoie

, score

Date

Result

Checked

Page Title

126 Reading Pormulae

127 Summary Check List on Reading

130 Grammar

130 Capitahzation

130 Punctuation

130 Sentence Structure

130 English Eriors Tabulated

139 Summaiy List of English Rules

140 Spelhng

141 Spelling Eirors Summarized

145 Handwriting Analysis

147 Mathematics

153 Health Questionnaiie

159 Interest E’s:peiience Summary

160 Thmkmg About Jobs

163 Job Information

171 Etiquette Test

174 Activity Questionnaire

176 Activity Plans

181 Einal Paper

not scored

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%ile

%ile

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seme

not scored
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scoie

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some

not scored
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not scored